Protection
by Charlania
Summary: McKay's discovered an interesting planet protected from a cloud of rainbow gases via a strong forcefield. Its a routine mission until a specimen retrieved escapes, resulting in strange behaviour from Dr. Weir.(McWeirSheyla, COMPLETED)
1. Briefing

**Yes, I know, another weird clouded planet, but I promise it'll be different, honest! I haven't seen any episode past Childhood's End at the moment, being in the UK, so I have no idea what Dr. Heightmeyer looks like, or how she actually is, I have merely twisted her into my own imagination. Muahaha! Ah-hem, anyway. Usual disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, or anything to do with Stargate, and certainly don't claim too. Although I wouldn't mind McKay; geeky/cute/sarcastic, what more could a girl want? **

**Heh, anyway hope you enjoy the story. I've placed it as PG-13, 'cos really I don't know where this is going. Well I do, but I won't be telling yet. (winks) Next chapter should be up soon enough, since I had to wait a while before I could upload. Have fun reading!**

**Protection**

"Pretty colours." Shepherd commented as he strolled into the briefing room.

Rodney rolled his eyes at his fellow team-mate's rather simple observation, and then cleared his throat.

"Thank you for joining us, now, if you please…"

Shepherd gave a mild shrug, before settling down into his chair and leaning back.

"As I was saying… planet AD2X9"

"AD2X9?"

"What now Major?" Rodney braced his hands on the desk, shooting him a glare.

Perfectly oblivious, Shepherd leaned forward, glancing to the others of the team.

"Well, I'm sorry to rock your boat McKay, but personally I'm getting kinda sick of these codes. Can't we at least name the place?"

"Oh yes, excuse me, I'm so sorry. I forgot that we were actually in the first grade!"

Elizabeth tilted her head, bypassing Rodney's outburst. "What did you have in mind?"

Ford suddenly grinned, sitting up in his seat. "Rainbow World!"

Silence enveloped the room, Shepherd the one to finally turn to Ford and raise an eyebrow.

"What did I tell you…"

'About naming things' Ford finished with silent mouthing, before settling back into his seat.

"IF you're all quite finished?!"

Elizabeth suppressed a snicker as everyone along with her turned back to Rodney.

"Plant AD2X9, Rainbow Land, or Psychedelic Valley… whatever you want to call it, is going to be our next port of call." Deftly he switched the screen continuing. "The 'pretty colours' that the Major so obviously noticed are in fact a trick of the eye, caused by the trapped gases within the atmosphere." Pausing then, the all too familiar dazed grin appeared on his features, Rodney's characteristic babbling emerging. "It's actually quite fascinating really…"

"Wait a minute." Elizabeth suddenly interjected with a raised hand. "You said 'trapped' gases?"

It took a moment for Rodney to leave his dazed state, before he nodded. "Yes, well, I was just getting to that. The probe we sent through brought up the images you see before you. From what we can tell, it seems to be some sort of 'force field' that is holding them back." Once more that grin emerged, his gesturing increasing. "I mean think of the power that must be there! They just have to-"

"No Rodney." Came Elizabeth's sudden warning, her gaze focusing on him.

Rodney's skin tinged a little, and he cleared his throat. "No?"

"No." Elizabeth replied, with even more force this time, her gaze still not wavering. There was an uncomfortable silence; before Teyla's soft voice broke it.

"Perhaps we could simply go and investigate this world? I have not seen anything like it in the time with my own people. Would not the history of this place be interesting enough?"

Another pause then, before Rodney reluctantly broke his eye-lock with Elizabeth. "Fine." He mumbled, with more then a few tinges in his voice of a child who's just seen someone else buy the Christmas present he wanted. "But at least let me take some equipment with me. Perhaps I can get some readings through the force field, or see where it's being generated from."

All eyes turned to Elizabeth, the Doctor reluctantly smiling. "Well, okay. But I don't want a repeat of the last time. It sounds like the force field's stopping the planet from being harmed by whatever is holding it back. We seem to have caused enough trouble lately as it is."

A light chuckle passed round the assembled team members, before they all rose in their respective times. Elizabeth waited till the rest of them filed out, before moving to stop Rodney, the scientist having stayed to pack things away. "Rodney, I know how much you want to find a ZPM."

Rodney bit his lip, before giving her his best nonchalant shrug. The effort alone caused Elizabeth to mentally chuckle, though she restrained the desire to tell him he was much better at science.

"I do." Rodney finally replied, shutting his case. "We all need it Elizabeth. You know how large the threat to Atlantis is, and as you said, we're not exactly making friends out there."

The truth of that caused Elizabeth to frown for a moment, before she managed a smile, her hand resting on Rodney's arm. "Maybe so. But we didn't come out here expecting the warmest of welcomes, and an easy ride. I doubt half as many of us would have come if we'd known it was going to be like that."

"Yeah, I guess so." Rodney stared down at his case for another moment, before suddenly looking up and grinning to her. "Anyway, at least I'll get to do some tests right? And Teyla's right, I am curious to find out exactly why those gases or whatever they are, are being held back." For a moment their eyes locked, Elizabeth's smile soon mirroring his own, only to be broken by the clearing of a throat, and not either of theirs.

"Uh, we're nearly ready to ship out." A slight grin then from John, as he glanced to McKay. "Just waiting for you McKay. But if you're busy…"

His voice lingered, long enough for Elizabeth's and Rodney's gazes to unlock, and for Rodney to shoot John a look. "I'm coming, I'm coming. If it wasn't for me you'd still be talking about how 'pretty' everything is." Swiftly grabbing everything, he then rushed out, his mind now obviously set on the mission ahead.

John though lingered, a smirk on his features; one that set Elizabeth's teeth on edge. Eventually she couldn't stand it, moving to him and asking outright. "What?"

"Oh… nothing." John slyly mused, his hand idly trailing back and forth across the briefing table. "It's just these little coincidences I keep seeing. Y'know, you and Mckay going off to talk together alone all the time, happening to see each other in the dining hall, and just 'happening' to be together during free time…"

"Hey, that happened once." Elizabeth replied sharply. "He was explaining a new device he'd found to me. It did something to change colours, or shapes… anyway, I was just taking an interest so as not to make him feel neglected."

John raised his hands innocently, even though that sly smirk still remained. "Hey, hey! No need to get so defensive, I was just commenting. No harm in that right? I think it's good that you and him are becoming 'friends'. Frankly, there's only so much fun you can have with the guy once you've pushed him off a balcony."

Elizabeth just watched him go with a deep sigh. He was right of course, she'd been entirely too defensive about the matter. Although she was a leader, and to enter into any kind of relationship would be harmful, even when she didn't consider Simon back home. She'd only felt sorry for Rodney after all. Elizabeth winced at that thought, moving out of the room.

Settling upon the balcony, she watched the team as they set everything up, gradually finding that her gaze inevitably swept to Rodney. Already he seemed wound up and excited, chattering away to Shepherd about his theories. Without realising it, Elizabeth found herself resting her head in her hand. No, that was a horrible thought, not to mention a lie. Never had she felt sorry for Rodney. Maybe sorry for others because of Rodney's arrogance, or incessant panicking, but no… she'd never seen a reason to feel sorry for him. Of course she'd spent time with him because she'd wanted too. Never having admitted it to herself before, she suddenly realised that she actually liked spending time with Rodney. There was something so boyish about him at times, and dare she think, cute? Simon had always been so serious. In fact thinking back, all her relationships had been with serious, grown-up men, who talked about politics, and the latest movements in the economy.

'No', she suddenly decided, straightening up. Now wasn't the time for this. Now was the time to get through some paperwork, and work out what the hell Rodney had been talking about. Stopping to run her hand through her hair, she then strode off.

------

"Would you stop it already?" Rodney shot at Shepherd, as an incessant grin plagued the Major's features.

"Stop what?" Came his oh-so-innocent reply.

"You know what! That stupid grin like you think you know something, when in fact you don't, you just think you do… and, you don't." Seeming semi-pleased with that retort, Rodney then moved off to collect the rest of the equipment. Except for the fact that halfway he suddenly stopped, frowning a touch as he thought he felt the heat of someone's stare. Glancing around, he then found his gaze travelling upwards and inevitably to the form of Elizabeth, nervously running her hand through her hair. Was she just watching him? Kind of like the way he was now watching her, that nervous running of nimble fingers through her gorgeous dark hair, and now her slim form… God, what was wrong with him? Rodney blinked at his trail of thoughts, quickly turning, only to bump into Dr. Heightmeyer.

"Uh Jane." Rodney managed to stutter out, mentally hoping that she wouldn't be able to notice his nervousness. Of course, being a psychiatrist Jane instantly did, but simply smiled to him. "You're nervous about the mission I guess. I just wanted to come down and wish you good luck."

Rodney simply nodded, wondering to himself why he suddenly desperately wanted to go. "Uh, thanks. Thanks Jane. That means a lot." Yeah Rodney, don't be so stupid. Gradually, as Jane talked in front of him, he forced himself to calm down, and stop thinking about Elizabeth so much. Lucky wasn't a big enough word to describe how he'd managed to get into a relationship with anyone, and Jane certainly wasn't just anybody. Although he had to admit the Psychiatrist thing was a little freaky sometimes.

"Rodney? Did you hear me?" Jane's voice permeated into his brain, and he grinned up to her. "Sorry, must've dazed off. Thinking about the mission and all, we can talk when I get back?"

Jane simply smiled and nodded, moving to plant a kiss on his cheek. "Sure. Good luck again." Then she moved off, Rodney finding he forgot about her almost instantly.

"Yo, McKay!" Ford's voice carried across the bay, and Rodney woke up, dragging the equipment along behind him.

"What the-?"

"It's my equipment." Rodney replied defensively, strapping his backpack on. Ford blinked for a moment, before gesturing to his pack. "And what the hell's in that?"

"Food." Rodney replied simply, before heading up the ramp. A brief exchanged look between Ford and Shepherd occurred, before the rest of them went up the ramp, and disappeared through the Stargate.

------

Elizabeth watched them go silently, her favourite perch atop the balcony having been quickly resumed. Unfortunately her gaze was so fixed on Rodney's departure; she didn't notice the arrival of Dr. Heightmeyer beside her. "Dr. Weir."

Jumping obviously, Elizabeth then composed herself, turning to the woman. "Please, Jane, call me Elizabeth. We've all been here for a little while haven't we?" And made ourselves quite at home with others, she found herself adding cattily in her own head.

"Very well then. You seemed concerned for the team? I must admit, Rodney did seem a little tense." Elizabeth couldn't help the frown. Yes, she called her Dr. Weir but Rodney was always 'Rodney'. Of course Jane assumed she had been correct, and nodded. "I am a little worried myself. Rodney has been quieter then usual around me the last couple of days. But I am sure it is just mission frets."

The two women watched the now once more shielded gate for a moment, before Elizabeth was the one to break. "I, eh, have lots of work to do Jane. I'll see you around. And don't worry, I'm sure Rodney's just been preoccupied with the mission, he seems to like you."

Jane tilted her head, in an analytical manner that made Elizabeth bite her lip. Damn that woman was so unemotional, how could Rodney ever like her? His experiments had more life then she did! "Yes. He's… interesting." Jane finally admitted, before with a soft smile moved off. Elizabeth watched her go with a glare she could never shield, before turning sharply and finally moving off to her office.


	2. Welcome to Rainbow World

**CHAPTER 2**

The gasp was unanimous, as the team stepped through the Stargate and on to the new planet. Even Rodney had to admit that the probe hadn't done the sky justice. Here and there flashes reverberated off a hidden force, as if it was a writhing mass of life, locked away.

"Teyla, are you okay?" John queried of the Athosian, his hand resting on her shoulder. Teyla just blinked, before turning to look at him, an imperceptible shake of her head head. Quietly, she replied so only he could hear. "I am not sure John. There is something about this world. The sky reminds me of a story my Father once told me."

John could tell by her expression, that it probably wasn't a child's normal fairy tale. Glancing around, he then turned back to her, squeezing her shoulder gently. "Look, tell me about it when McKay's got everything set up. We can go and explore." Teyla's smile was one of a person reassured, before she moved to help Rodney.

John watched her go with a frown on his features. He'd only ever seen Teyla worried before, and that had been when they were close to the Wraith. Almost on cue, another flash echoed in the multicoloured sky above, and he looked up. Somehow, he felt like they were all being watched. A shiver passed through him as he thought back to one of the old missions, when they'd all been duped into thinking that they'd gone home, not to mention that massive entity that had nearly consumed Atlantis, and namely McKay.

Now that was a weird thought. This time he looked to McKay, watching the scientist busily setting up equipment, almost skipping around in scientific glee. It was the first time he'd ever seen him be so brave, and certainly wasn't the last. No wonder Elizabeth cared for him so much. Shaking his head, he reasserted his grip on his gun, and strode over to the small group.

"Everything ready McKay?"

Rodney just beamed back to him, before gesturing wildly up to the sky. "You should see these readings! They're absolutely amazing! I mean the force is just… well, we just have to find out where it's coming from."

"Hey, wait a minute." Ford suddenly cut in, striding forward. "I thought Elizabeth told you not to go tampering?"

Rodney's face warred between excitement, and concern, before finally settling on a frown. "Well, the way I see it, Elizabeth hasn't been out here like us. Plus, she never said anything about _looking_ so I don't see any harm in just going and getting some readings."

"Yeah, especially since Ford will be there to make sure you behave McKay." John cut in with a cheery grin, before deftly raising his hand to silence both McKay and Ford as they moved to protest. "And before you argue the point, the fact is I'm nervous about this place. Personally I don't think rainbow skies just happen by themselves, and McKay you'll need someone to watch your back, not to mention you should really start learning about Atlantian technology too Ford." As dumb as he knew that excuse sounded, John still didn't add anything else, simply giving a nod before gesturing for Teyla to follow him.

Teyla did so, with a slight smile on her face. Shifting her pack a little, she commented to him as they moved. "You do realise that they will both be wondering why you have split the group up as you have."

"And they can keep on wondering." John replied, as he glanced around the forest that they'd entered. "The fact is, you wanted to speak to me in private, plus McKay's incessant babbling doesn't always help private situations."

Teyla smiled despite herself, before she too glanced around the area. "This is very beautiful." Came her quiet comment, before a soft sigh passed her lips. "John, I can't help this feeling that I keep having."

John frowned, stopping next to a nearby tree and resting his gun beside him. "Is it the Wraith again?"

"No, it's… something else." Teyla murmured, before she too came to rest against the tree. "When the Wraith comes, I receive a chill, an icy feeling that seems to come from within me. But this is different. Instead I feel something… powerful."

"Is it friendly?" John ventured, unable to mask the hope in his voice. Right now any ally, even if it was just a ghostly presence, would be welcome.

Teyla seemed to frown even more at his question, softly closing her eyes as if to search deep within herself. "That does not seem to be the right word John. It is too simple to be 'friendly'; but then, also to be non-friendly. It just seems to be… strong." Then she bowed her head, her tone apologetic. "I'm sorry I cannot be of more help."

He just shook his head, hand resting gently upon her hair. "Teyla, it's okay. Hell, just the fact that you're getting these feelings is more then anyone could hope for. Believe me, you're more help then you realise."

Teyla nodded, before shifting her frame to smile up to him. "I am glad to hear it John. Sometimes I worry that I am not helping, being an Athosian as I am. But it is good to hear that there is some help I can give."

Nodding back to her, John then chuckled. "Anyway, we'd better keep going. McKay and Ford are probably on their way to McKay's idea of heaven by now." The both of them chuckling at that thought, John then gently helped her up, before they set off further into the woodland.

------

"Of course you know why they did that don't you?" Ford continued, as he and McKay strolled off through the other section of woodland.

"No, I'm afraid I have to admit that I don't." Rodney replied, with his best 'I don't really care' tone. Thankfully he had the scanner to keep him occupied as Ford prattled on.

"Come on McKay, you're supposed to be a genius aren't you? It's pretty damn obvious. I mean John's always talking to her, always eating with her, always telling her about Earth."

"Maybe they're just becoming good friends." Rodney murmured back, trying his best to drown out Ford's incessant babbling. Geeze, some people just didn't know when to stop talking.

"Yeah right." Ford snorted, before showing a grin that Rodney had seen on Shepherd's face many times before. Namely when he'd come into the briefing room earlier that day and found him and Elizabeth. "John's not as good at hiding his feelings as he thinks y'know. There's definitely something brewing between those two. Not that I blame him, she is kinda-"

"Lieutenant!" Rodney snapped back at him, brandishing the scanner like a deadly weapon. "In case you haven't noticed, I am _trying_ to do some work here! This planet could hold the key to producing the greatest force fields known to man, force fields that could eventually not only protect Earth from the Goa'uld and numerous threats, but Atlantis from the Wraith! I do _not_ need you chattering away in my ear like some high-school jock about what you think may be going on between Major Shepherd and Teyla!"

For a moment Ford blinked, surprised at Rodney's rather furious outburst. Then he simply shrugged, walking once more. "Hey, chill McKay. It's not like I started theorising about you and Elizabeth." With a slight grin at that, he picked up his pace, causing Rodney to falter, before catching up.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Rodney muttered, before focusing obviously on the scanner in front of him.

Silence passed between them for a few moments, before Ford leaned over to inspect the equipment. "Hey, what does that big circle mean?"

Sighing, Rodney just rolled his eyes. "Your skills in perception are absolutely brilliant do you know that Lieutenant? Almost as good as Major Shepherd's. That 'big circle', shows that we're getting closer to the source. If I'm right, and there's no doubt that I am, it should be a few yards away to the north-west." Aiming the scanner in that direction, he then set off purposefully, Ford just chuckling behind him.

------

"So… you gonna tell me about this story or not?"John finally broke the comfortable silence with a grin sent Teyla's way.

Teyla smiled softly back to him, before slowing her pace a little. "It was a tale that my Father told me when I was eleven. It is not a common tale that my people know. From the age of seven, I knew that I was going to be the leader of the Athosians, and so my Father began to prepare me. There are many tales, passed on from the Ancestors, to guide us on our path. This was one of the most vital."

John simply nodded, shifting his gun, while he too slowed his pace. The rest of the woods seemed to be lost from his attention, focusing solely on Teyla now.

Pausing, Teyla took a breath, before recollecting. "The story is one of a planet with a glorious sky of colours, such as this one. However the world is full of sadness, and danger. It tells of the Ancestors, in their early days, when they were experimenters such as us, trying to attain their ultimate goal of peace. However not all were so focused, and indeed wished to rush their attempts. Unfortunately each of us has demons inside us, and in this Ancestor's forced attempt, he released the demon within him. However when they found him, they thought only that he had died naturally. His wife was distraught for a short time, but soon recovered, finding a new partner within the city."

"Quick workers these Ancients eh?" John quipped with a grin, before quickly growing silent at Teyla's sharp look.

"Soon she fell pregnant, and the day came for her to have her child. However, all too late, her new husband realised that her first partner's demon had found its place within her newborn child. She died that same day. Her husband swore that he had seen her go to the Peace, in a glorious show of colours, and forgot about the demon." Pausing then Teyla stopped, wincing softly.

John quickly rushed to her side, hands going to take hold of her. "Teyla, are you okay?"

Weakly, Teyla shook her head, a soft murmur passing her lips. "No. I can feel it, stronger this time. I can feel something John, something I cannot describe."

As he moved to reply, John's radio suddenly cut in, McKay's excited chatter piercing the air. "Major! You've gotta come and see this, it's absolutely amazing! The power, it's just… well, I can't explain it, just get over here. It's north-west, within the forest."

"We'll be right there." John replied, before turning to Teyla, concern still filling his face. "Will you be okay to run?"

Teyla nodded, straightening up a little more. "I think so. It was just the shock more then anything else. As long as it does not get any stronger, I should be fine."

Nodding to that, John took her hand, running with her.

------

"Finally!" Rodney exclaimed, as John and Teyla came running into the complex, only for them to stop and blink in awe at the size of the place.

"Doctor, this is amazing." Teyla commented, while Rodney just rolled his eyes. "Well, yes, I've already said that. Now what is really amazing, is the power supply. One ZPM? No. Two? Nu-uh, now three? You're getting a hell of a lot warmer."

John just blinked, moving forward to him. "Wait, this place has _three_ ZPM's?"

Rodney beamed and bounced as he nodded. "I know! Isn't it amazing! I said this place must have a lot of power, and boy was I right."

"Yeah, but you haven't told them why." Ford reminded Rodney, as he headed back into the front area.

Frowning Rodney just shrugged. "Well I was getting to that. Basically all three are in some sort of weird synchronised operation; instead of one large shield, there are three overlapping ones, lengthening the time. Really, it's quite ingenious." At the looks from the others, he shrugged once more. "Okay, fine, I'll stop there."

Ford then glanced to Rodney once more, asking. "You're not going to tell them about the other thing we found?"

Rodney just sighed, shooting him a look. "Will you let me talk? I was getting to that okay."

"Woah there, wait a minute, what else did you find?" John frowned, glancing to Teyla. The Athosian looked even worse then before, barely able to keep her eyes open. "Ford, take Teyla outside." Unable to protest herself, Teyla allowed Ford to help her stumble outside. With both gone, John then turned to Rodney. "Okay then, what is it?"

For the first time he could remember, Rodney actually stayed quiet, seeming to be thinking about something. Then he sighed. "Look, I can't explain it, strange I know. You've just gotta see it yourself." Gesturing wildly, he scurried into the next room, John following behind.

------

Teyla stumbled against the tree, Ford watching her with a concerned gaze. "Are you okay?"

Teyla just shook her head, hand going to rest there. "I am afraid not. The presence here is much stronger then I had expected. I feel as I am surrounded, and yet I cannot see anything."

Ford just frowned. "Presence?" Rolling his eyes, he muttered. "Oh God, don't say we're talking about another gas alien thing again?"

------

John's gait slowed as he entered the room, his eyes fixating on the canister in front of him. It was so small, but so…

"Beautiful isn't it?" Rodney voiced John's own thoughts, his entire gaze focused on the canister. About the same size as an average cylinder, a portion of it had been made out of the same type of force field as the sky, showing the rainbow coloured gas that was within it.

"Yeah, I guess." John murmured, before suddenly glancing to Rodney. "Wait a minute; you're not actually thinking of taking this back to Atlantis are you?"

Obviously surprised that John had read his mind already, Rodney simply gave in. "Yes, alright, I was. Look, the force field is the strongest I have ever encountered, and believe me; we were working on some pretty good stuff back on Earth. I picked it up..."

"You WHAT?!" John exclaimed, striding forward. "What if you'd set something off?"

"Hey, you never know until you try." Rodney replied defensively, before glaring at him. "And if you'll let me finish, not that anybody ever actually does… the thing is powered on its own. It seems to have some sort of mini ZPM inside it."

"Kinda like a micro-chip?" John mused, approaching the canister.

"Well… yes." Rodney admitted reluctantly, before sighing. "Look Major, the fact is, we barely know anything about the ancients as it is. If not for what's in it, we at least should try and find out as much about this shielding as possible. And personally, I'd rather take the trial version home before we start working on the full product." He gestured outside then, before bracing his hands on the console. "Come on John, I _know_ you want to find out about this too. It's not like I'm taking away one of the ZPM's or anything. This kind of technology could really help us with the Wraith, and you know it."

------

Teyla just shrugged to Ford, an effort in itself it seemed. "I am not sure. All I know is that the closer I came to this facility, the greater the feeling of a presence. It is a strange feeling, not of danger, not of friendliness… somehow just of desire, and power."

Ford frowned at her, deciphering all that before asking. "So basically that's a yes is it? Teyla, we found something in there. It looked like a specimen of the stuff in the sky. Granted it had a force field, but so far those things haven't always worked for us. Now if you tell me that that thing's dangerous, then I can tell the Major, and stop McKay from bringing it back. So is it?"

------

John just sighed, his gaze shifting to the canister. Damn it. He hated it, no, he loathed it, but he had to admit that McKay was right. "Sometimes you have to take risks." John mused to himself, causing a grin from McKay.

"That's a yes then?"

"Yes." John replied, before adding with a raised finger. "A reluctant yes though, as in if anything goes wrong; you'll have to fix it. Okay?"

Rodney just grinned as he grabbed the canister. "Don't I always?"

------

"I cannot say." Teyla replied to Ford, her head shaking. "As I said, it is powerful yes, and it has desire, but it is neither dangerous, nor friendly. It just is."

"Oh great." Ford muttered, before turning as he heard John and McKay's voices. "Oh great!" He repeated, eyes wide as he saw the canister in McKay's hand. "Major, you can't possibly have allowed this!"

John just shrugged to Ford. "For once, McKay's right. The shielding alone is valuable enough. Besides, we've dealt with beings before right?"

"Yeah, but we only have so many inhospitable planets left to dump an entity on to." Ford commented, as he helped Teyla towards them.

McKay just rolled his eyes at him, gesturing the canister. "There is absolutely nothing dangerous about this okay? As I told the Major, it has its own ZPM built in, so the force-field won't run out, and we certainly have no intention of letting it out."

"Personally, I don't care." John interjected, moving to help Teyla from Ford, as the lieutenant just shot a glare at Rodney. "Especially since I'm not the one who has to explain it to Elizabeth."

Rodney suddenly blinked at that, glancing between the canister, and the other three. "Uhh…" He stuttered for a moment, before giving a rather bad nonchalant shrug. "Well, she said no ZPM's, and technically this isn't. We're finding out about the history of the planet, and bringing back new technology that could ultimately defend us against the Wraith." Seeming confident with that reasoning, Rodney nodded. "Yup, there's no way she can find any sort of fault with this."

Ford just rolled his eyes, while John chuckled. "Well, like I said, you're telling her, not me."

"Yeah." Rodney murmured, suddenly wondering to himself if he actually wanted to go back to Atlantis.


	3. Attack

**Chapter 3**

Rodney stared quite obviously at the wall opposite him, trying his best to ignore Elizabeth's rant. Unfortunately, his tactic was quickly discovered, resulting in the full form of an angry Elizabeth stepping into view.

"Rodney, are you even listening to me?"

"Uh." Rodney rather succinctly replied, trying his best not to appear too much like a schoolboy who's being told off. "No?"

Elizabeth's glare narrowed even more, and she planted her hands on the desk in front of him, leaning forward. "I _said, _'do you even listen to me at all?' I mean, I specifically tell you, not to disrupt anything, just to go out there and take some readings. And you've disobeyed me, again! You should always check with me, before you bring anything like this back!" Taking hold of the canister, she moved to bring it down on the table, only for Rodney to quickly snatch it from her grasp before she could.

"Hey! Who was just talking about being careful?!" Rising up from the chair, he braced his own frame on the desk, gaze locking with hers. "And I've already told you why I brought it back. Shield. Technology. Good. Very. Very. Good." A mistake he knew then, as Elizabeth's grip on the desk tightened, her lips pursing, steam close to shooting out of her ears. "Do NOT talk to me like I'm an imbecilic intern!" Banging her hand on the desk, she continued. "I am the leader of this base Rodney; I decide what goes in, and what goes out. Not you. You know, for a supposed genius, you can be very stupid sometimes."

Rodney just blinked, before leaning back. Swiftly he grabbed the canister, shooting a glare back to her. "Fine! If that's what you think... just don't expect to get any praise when I become the world-famous Dr. McKay, who took the risk to utilise the strongest shield technology and save mankind!" Not even waiting for a reply, he stormed out.

Elizabeth sighed as she knew she couldn't just let him disappear. She knew as a diplomat, that if she didn't resolve this now, Rodney would just stew inside his lab for hours, or maybe even days. Taking a deep breath, she moved to follow him out of the office.

"Rodney! Come back here, I haven't finished talking to you!"

The astrophysicist was already halfway down the corridor though, and accelerating fast. "Damn, he can move fast when he wants too." Elizabeth muttered, moving to go once more before John appeared.

"Something wrong?"

Elizabeth pointedly looked to the departing figure of Rodney, before glancing back. "What do you think? I and Dr. McKay had a slight 'discussion'-"

"Argument." John corrected, arms folding across his chest.

"About the canister that he brought back." Elizabeth continued, ignoring John's interruption. "So now I'm going to go and try and sort it out."

John paused for a moment, watching her. Elizabeth just frowned at him, knowing that he wanted to say something. Giving a resigned sigh, she asked. "Okay, what is it?"

"It's just, well personally I think the canister is as important as McKay does. I'm not saying I totally agree with the guy, but I was the one who let him bring it back, so you should be scolding me, not him."

Elizabeth pursed her lips a little. She didn't especially like the use of the word 'scolded' there, it made her sound like some damned headmistress. "Okay then." Elizabeth finally replied, her own arms folding. "But it's different, I expect you to do things like that, disobeying orders is what you do but Rodney…"

John watched her once more, before finally asking. "Wait a minute, are you hurt or something?"

"What? No!" Elizabeth shot back, eyes widening. "Of course I'm not! Why would I be? Just because I trust Rodney and explicitly told him to be careful, and then he came back-"

"I'll take that as a yes." John smirked back to her.

Elizabeth frowned once more, suddenly noticing for the first time that the whole of the area was watching the exchange between her and John. It was evident that she wasn't going to win this argument. "Look. I have to go and find Rodney." Elizabeth excused herself with, turning then to move off as fast as she could. Just because she was technically their leader, it didn't mean she liked them all watching her every move.

The corridor was a quiet refuge, and she slowed her gait to allow herself a few calming breaths. The few people that passed her seemed ignorant of her recent exchanges with Rodney and John, either that or they just pretended like they were. Despite her slow steps, it seemed like no time until she was outside Rodney's lab. Of course there was nowhere else he could be, his lab was his refuge from everything, and now it seemed, her. Was she really hurt by the fact that he hadn't even consulted her? Maybe she was. But she could never admit that. Taking in another calming breath, she stepped into the lab.

Rodney was hunched over one of the benches as usual, that familiar white coat of his already on him. For a long moment Elizabeth watched him, studying the back of his head with a strange interest. Nervousness in arguments had always been her worst weakness; that was one of the reasons why she always sought peaceful resolutions. She wasn't so sure if she could do that now though without revealing herself too much.

"Are you actually going to say something?" Rodney queried of her, without bothering to turn around.

Elizabeth's evident surprise was strong enough to allow Rodney to add something else. "You're wondering how I knew you were there right? Well apart from the fact that you're not the quietest of breathers, I could see your reflection in the canister." Turning then, he leaned back against the bench, a soft smile on his lips. "So at least it's good for something right?"

Obviously that was a dig at her, she didn't need to be an experienced diplomat to know that, but instead of rallying back she allowed herself a nervous smile, eyes flickering downwards for a moment. "It's good for a lot of things Rodney." Taking a few steps further into the lab, she then glanced back up to him, arms spreading. "Look Rodney, I'm not denying the usefulness of it at all; I know that if it wasn't worthwhile, then you wouldn't have brought it back but..."

"But?" Rodney repeated, raising an eyebrow curiously. There was no way he was going to let this be easy for her. But there was no way that Elizabeth was going to apologise fully either. Frowning a touch, she moved forward a little more confidently, reaching him properly now.

"But, to be honest, I feel like you broke the trust that I have in you Rodney."

'Have?' Rodney thought, head tilting.

"No, you didn't break it completely." Elizabeth added, reading his thoughts, before softly she drew in her bottom lip. Rodney sighed then, his own resolve breaking. She hadn't said it, he knew she never would, but he could see that he'd hurt her. Frowning himself, he moved forward and placed his hand on hers. "Elizabeth I'm… sorry, okay? Not for bringing the canister back, that I stand by, but I'm sorry for not consulting you first. You know how I get, I was just so excited, and I figured you would be too."

"I am Rodney!" Elizabeth burst out, her eyes locking with his then, hand swiftly gripping his own. For a brief moment, Rodney saw one of her wonderful, bright smiles. "Of course I am! I mean if you can utilise the technology, then we don't have to worry about the Wraith attacking us, but it's still the fact that you didn't consult me first." Just as quickly then, her smile was gone, and she sighed. "I'm the leader of Atlantis Rodney, and yet recently I don't feel like I am. I have people undermining my authority at every turn, only using my word as a guideline, and there's nothing I can do when you're out there because _I'm_ not out there!" Her eyes widened even more then, as she babbled on. "I mean what if you got hurt! I couldn't do anything, and that would just-"

"You mean if we got hurt." Rodney murmured to her quietly, interrupting Elizabeth's voiced thoughts.

"What?" She blinked, her train of thought suddenly derailed and stuck in a tree somewhere.

"You said 'you', as in 'me'. But you meant 'we' right? As in the team?" Rodney probed her gaze then, looking for any-well, really he didn't know what he was looking for, and he'd only know if he found it.

"Uh, yes, right." Elizabeth whispered back to him, unable to look away from his searching gaze. Fear welled up inside her, enforced by the discovery that her hand was still encased in his, and promptly followed by her yanking it from him. Stumbling back, she smacked into the table, knocking the canister off and on to the floor.

"Oh God." Elizabeth murmured, kneeling down to it. "Is it okay? I didn't damage it did I?"

Rodney just rolled his eyes, joining her on the floor. "Don't be silly Elizabeth; the force field has enough power to hold in the strong force of the gas within it, I doubt some angry movements were enough to damage it."

Elizabeth blinked back to him then, repeating. "'Angry movements?' Rodney, I'm not angry-"

"No, just scared, surprised, maybe sickened?" The last word was a horrible sneer, accompanied by a fierce glare towards her. "If you didn't want to be touched, you should just say." Reaching for the canister, he found his arm being held back by Elizabeth, her eyes soft as she looked at him.

"Rodney, it's not that, really. It's just-"

"There's no need to sugar-coat it Elizabeth, if you want to hide from your feelings then that's up to you." Oh God, he was out on a ledge, a seriously crumbly ledge that could fall into a storm at any moment. But instead of the fiery denial he'd expected back, Elizabeth simply stared at him sadly, before rising from her position. Evidently surprised, Rodney grabbed the canister and rose himself. Setting the canister back down on the table, he turned to her, surprised to find that sad look still within her eyes. A strange urge rose within him, one to hug her, and forever erase that look from her eyes. Soon though, it wasn't needed, as her look changed, and she shot him a glare back.

"The only one hiding their feelings here is you." Elizabeth spat back to him. "I know what I feel, but out of courtesy I don't voice them. Because in case you'd forgotten- you're with someone Rodney!" The last bit was a furious shout, one that rocked Elizabeth more then it did him. And there was nothing more either of them could say after that, nothing more either of them could do, because now it was so obvious.

That urge strengthened even more inside him, and he even stepped forward to meet her. But just as quickly, Elizabeth stepped back, turning swiftly then and marching out. No-one else besides Rodney would have noticed the tremble within her hands though, and he sighed to himself. Slowly turning to the canister, he kneeled in front of it, gently poking the force field. "I bet it's all so simple for you my gaseous friend, no worries, apart from where the next space is. You don't have to worry about relationships or what you feel for people…" For a moment, he thought he could glimpse a change in colour, as if the gas was replying to him, but he just put it off as stress, stepping away then to do something else. Most probably thinking about Elizabeth.

Close, very close. There. Force, so strong. Yes, strong, good, strong. Link. Good enough? Yes, good enough, strongest seen. Escape? Not yet. Right time. Soon, enough, effort enough. Energy soon repaid. Desire soon fulfilled. Yes, soon.

John slid easily into the seat across from Teyla, sending her a cheery grin. "Gotta love these dinners eh?"

Teyla merely raised an eyebrow, gently investigating the steamed rations with her fork. "I am not quite sure I would use the word 'love' John, the word 'like' would even present problems." Warm laughter erupted from John at that, his head shaking. "You got me there Teyla, although I was being sarcastic." As Teyla sent him a confused look, he just shook his head once more. "Never mind, it's not really important."

"Yes, perhaps." Teyla mused, gingerly raising some of the rice and testing it with her tongue. Satisfied it was dead enough, she popped it into her mouth, chewing on it. Since her people had left, she'd had to get even more used to the rations brought by the Stargate crew. It was one of the more unpleasant aspects of staying behind.

"Hmm, now there's something scary." John quietly mused, causing Teyla's attention to switch from the food in front of her.

"What is?"

Not bothering to explain, John merely pointed his fork towards the table behind them. Teyla turned, blinking then as she spotted Rodney. "I... do not understand." She admitted as she glanced back to John.

Sighing, John looked to her. "How often have you seen McKay not eat his food? I mean he's the only one on this base, who likes rations, and he's always asking for seconds, and yet he's just sat staring at his plate."

Once more Teyla glanced over to Rodney, studying him. Indeed, rather then shovelling his food in as he so usually did, he merely sat staring at the contents, every now and then stirring it softly. Something else caught her attention, and she queried of John. "Does not Dr. Weir usually eat with Dr. McKay also?"

John blinked, grinning to Teyla. "You're right! Wow, I never noticed that. That settles it, this is officially creepier then Canada winning a football game."

"Hell, that's creepy." Ford interjected as he sat down next to John, stuffing some of the rations into his face. Customary grimace out of the way, he added. "Of course it's not too surprising, what with the argument they had and all."

Teyla glanced between the two then, slyly pushing the plate away from her. Gossip was certainly a good excuse to not eat rations. "Argument? I had heard of no argument between the two."

Both men looked at her as if she was more of an alien then she actually was, before John finally cleared his throat. "Yeah well, you must be the only one on this base then. It started out over the canister of course, but personally I think it's a little more then that. They were arguing in the briefing room-"

"No they weren't." Ford suddenly interjected with a full mouth. Swallowing then, he raised his fork. "It was in the lab. One of the guards told me. He was walking past and heard the shouting."

John blinked, before a wide grin spread across his features. "Really? Yeah, she mentioned she was going to speak to him. So, anything good? Any slaps?"

Teyla simply raised an eyebrow towards him, while Ford nearly choked on his rations with laughter. "You wish to know if Dr. Weir attacked Dr. McKay."

John paused, before he glanced back to Teyla. "Uh, it's an Earth thing Teyla. You see when a man and a woman fight, it can be quite funny, because woman usually…" His voice trailed off then as Teyla's gaze penetrated his thoughts. Swallowing, he asked. "Uh, I'm sure there's something similar on your world?"

"Arguments are seen as bad things within my people John." Teyla remarked quietly. "If it does lead to violence, which it rarely does, it is seen as a major breakdown of relationship, and it is seen to be the duty of the tribe to aid in the renewal of trust."

Ford tried his best to hide the reflexive snort at this, coughing hurriedly. "Uh, I'd better go and clear away my plate." Grabbing his food, he moved off, sending a pointed look over his shoulder to John on the way.

"Yes, well." John murmured, as Teyla continued to stare at him. "What do you think about those two anyway?"

"Dr. Weir and McKay?" Teyla asked, before sighing. "I believe they are both in deep denial. I have hoped that things will be resolved soon enough though, and at least the current relationship does not seem to be too strained."

"Yes, well…" John paused then, as he heard something over the base intercom. "Wait, was that something about Elizabeth?"

Teyla shrugged, glancing around. "Perhaps Dr. Beckett will know."

"Carson!" John shouted, leaping off his chair and grabbing the Scot. "What's going on?"

"Have ya not heard man?" Carson just rolled his eyes as both John and Teyla shook their heads. "It's Dr. Weir, she's had an accident in Rodney's lab, hit 'er head or summit."

"Is she okay?" Teyla questioned, concern obvious in her voice.

"How tha hell should I know lass? I was on ma way there afore ya stopped me!"

"Then I apologise." Teyla added, with a soft nod of her head.

"Look, there's no time for that." John replied to them both. "We have to get going, come on."

EARLIER

Elizabeth sighed as she found herself outside Rodney's lab once more. Normally of course she'd be on her way to the mess hall like everyone else, normally she'd be walking there with Rodney, but right now they needed to resolve things, and she'd had enough of public arguments for one day.

"Rodney?" Elizabeth ventured, as she stepped into the lab, only to find it empty. Damn, she wasn't late was she? Checking her watch, she sighed. No, it was ten minutes earlier then the time they usually left, which could only mean one thing. "He's purposefully avoiding me." Elizabeth muttered to herself, head shaking. "Damn it, he must've guessed I was going to come early." Sighing once more, she turned to go, until she spotted the canister. Left alone on the table. It was undeniably beautiful, the colours so vibrant. Gingerly, she stepped towards it, gaze never shifting. It would be nice, to have something so beautiful hold the key to protecting Atlantis. But there was also one obvious linking thought there, the gas must have been locked up for a reason.

Suddenly finding that she'd moved towards it fully without even realising, Elizabeth hunched down to stare into its brilliant depths. Here and there, tiny flashes of colour flickered towards her, shifting wonderfully through the colours of the rainbow. Tilting her head, she allowed one finger to go forward and poke the force field; Rodney had assured her it was quite safe after all. There was a slight shock though, and she winced, sucking on her finger. And where her finger had touched, the colour shifted once more, accumulating. "Damn, you're strange." She muttered, pondering leaving once more. But it was just so, mesmerising. No wonder Rodney couldn't resist it. "And I can't resist him." She murmured softly, leaning a little more to peer deeper within the gas. "You've got it so much easier then you realise." Then she blinked, had the gas moved? No it- "Oh God!" She shot back, eyes wide as she studied the canister. No, it couldn't have. For a moment she thought the gas had mimicked her face, but that couldn't be true, that would mean… "Okay, I'm taking you to Rodney."

Her hand clasped around the canister, but by the time the shock registered, it was already too strong for her to pull away. "Ahhhh!" She screamed, her whole body quivering, the gas now fusing with the force field. She felt as if it was not only trying to break through the force field, but through her own skin. Furiously she smashed the canister on to the edge of the table, prying it from her grip, not before she saw the force field shoot forward though, and straight into her chest. The last thing she saw as her head smashed off the side of the bench behind her was a glorious cloud of rainbow colours, slowly descending.

Energy, so much energy. Awake again. Yes. Power, desire. Soon, desire gone. Link, so strong. So very strong. Strongest? Yes. There, the weakness. Him. Her weakness.

Rodney muttered as he marched back towards his lab, furiously searching for one of his high-energy bars. His appetite was close to nil at the moment, but the last thing he wanted was a hypoglycaemic reaction. Thankfully they hadn't seen him leave. They must've thought he was deaf, or stupid, or possibly both. Of course it was all over the base by now, about his and Elizabeth's argument, and yet he still didn't know what to think about it all. Biting into the bar, he chewed upon it mercilessly, as he rounded the corner for his lab. He knew it had been cowardly, going earlier, but then he'd known she'd come. No doubt she was waiting for him there. Of course, he didn't know how right he was until he stepped into the lab, and saw Elizabeth's lifeless body upon the floor, blood trickling from her forehead.

"Elizabeth!" Rodney shouted, forsaking the food upon the nearby bench, before kneeling down to her. Levering her head into his arms, he checked her pulse, his own strong enough that he could barely here his own thoughts. Relief flooded through him as her pulse registered, and he wiped away the blood with his sleeve. "Oh God, Elizabeth, what happened?" Hugging her close, he murmured. "I'm so sorry, if I hadn't been so-God, there's no time for that now." Gently laying her on the floor once more, he then dove out of the room, grabbing the nearest passer-by. "You! Get to the Control Room; I need Dr. Beckett here now."

"You do realise its lunchtime don't you?" Asked the soldier, eyebrows rising.

Sneering, Rodney grabbed the man by the front of his shirt, pulling him close to the blood on his arm. "You think this is ketchup smart guy? Dr. Weir is at this moment lying unconscious on the floor of my laboratory, bleeding from her head. I don't think Dr. Beckett's going to be too concerned about his diet, do you?"

The man blinked, shaking his head then as he extricated himself. "No, I-I guess not. I'll get going right away sir." He pelted down the hallway, already shouting loudly.

Rodney sighed, stumbling back into the laboratory. He knew it would only be a matter of minutes before everyone else got here, and so he took the chance to hug Elizabeth close once more. "Elizabeth, what did you do? Please Elizabeth, please, just please wake up?"

Gently he cradled her form close, oblivious to the empty canister that had rolled only a few metres away.


	4. Awakening

**Chapter 4**

John was the first into the room, closely followed by Teyla as he pulled her along. Just as quickly though he halted at the sight in front of him; Rodney cradling Elizabeth close to him, tears trickling from his eyes.

"Oh God." He murmured, slowing his steps. "She's not-is she?" The dreaded word was skipped, but not by his brain, and he numbly watched as Beckett pushed through the small forming crowd, towards the body. Instinctively he drew Teyla near, the Athosian heralding no complaint as she too stared.

Rodney was the worst of course, only moving when pushed by Beckett, the Doctor checking her vitals. "She's alive." He breathed, a sigh of relief echoing out from him and through everyone else. "But she ain't the best, we gotta get 'er to the medical area." Looking to Rodney, he asked. "How long she been like this?"

Rodney just blinked back to him, those tears still trickling. Slowly he awoke, only to murmur. "I-I don't know. I just came and found her a few minutes ago, but, well I left around half an hour ago, maybe a little more, and that's usually the time when she…" His strength was almost as depleted as Elizabeth's, and his voice trailed off.

Carson just watched him, before nodding. "Right, so around forty-five minutes or so at the most then, which ain't so bad. O'course it depends on when she actually fell. We'll determine that soon." Gesturing to two of the nearest medics, the three of them slipped her on to a stretcher, before quietly leading her out.

Rodney stayed in his sunken position upon the floor, jumping obviously when John moved to place a hand on his shoulder. "You alright-no, sorry, that's a stupid question." Rodney's head agreed, before he looked around. The small group that had formed hadn't disappeared just yet, waiting and watching Rodney with obvious concern. Furiously wiping away his tears, he jumped up, turning to them all fully. "Don't you vultures have anything better to do then gawp?!"

"Hey, they're just concerned." John warned him, hand bracing on his shoulder a little more this time. "No-one's here to stare okay, we're just concerned."

"Maybe you are." Rodney spat, glancing between him and Teyla. "But they don't even know me! Or Elizabeth; none of them respect her, she said that herself." The awed silence that followed only fuelled Rodney's anger, and he glared at them all as he stormed out.

"Should we not follow?" Teyla asked, moving then to do so. However John's hand moved to grasp her arm, and he shook his head. "No. Knowing Rodney, it's better to let him work his steam off. Besides, if we need him, we know where he'll be."

"With Elizabeth." Teyla murmured, before drawing John over away from the slowly dissipating crowd. "But there must be something we can do?"

"We try and find out what happened. Let's start with the lab." Giving a 'shoo' expression towards the few people who still remained, he then gestured to the left side of the lab. "You take that side, I'll take this one."

Teyla frowned, even as she moved towards the left. "What exactly are we looking for?"

"Anything." John replied, as he pulled out his gun. "Absolutely anything that could've caused Elizabeth to hurt herself like that."

Mimicking John's actions, Teyla frowned. "Could not this just have been some sort of accident though John? It is possible…" Her voice trailed off then, as John looked to her.

"You know Elizabeth just as well as I do now Teyla, do you really think she's that clumsy?"

Teyla pursed her lips at that, thinking it over. Finally though, she had to admit. "No, I cannot see it."

"Then lets start looking." John replied ominously with a nod, slowly stepping forward, his gun aimed and ready.

**------**

Rodney steamed through the corridors, his anger and fear only increasing the desire to see Elizabeth, to be there when she awoke. Eventually he broke into a run, trying his best to ignore the lack of breath that soon followed. By the time he reached the infirmary, Elizabeth was already laid out in her bed, various monitoring devices having been attached to her. Carson stepped forward and greeted him with a soft smile. "No need ta look so worried Rodney, she's just sleeping."

Rodney blinked to him, ignoring the incredible pull to look towards Elizabeth. "She's okay then? Nothing wrong with her?"

"Well I wouldn't say that." Carson replied with a raised eyebrow, before moving over to the bed. "She did smack 'er head pretty bad on your table. Got a few raised levels of adrenaline and such, not ta mention a mild concussion, but that'll soon be explained by whatever caused 'er ta fall."

Rodney gulped quite obviously, staring down at her sleeping form. Of course right now, she looked so peaceful, the bandage on her head showing the only real damage to her. One of the nurses helpfully brought a chair along, gesturing for him to sit. Doing as he was told for once in his life, his gaze never wavered from Elizabeth, hand gently resting upon hers. "Do you know what happened?" He eventually murmured.

Carson merely shook his head, flipping his chart back over. "Tha adrenaline I'd say was caused by some kinda strong event before she fell, fight-or-flight really. Can't say exactly what o'course, but indications show she had some sort o' shock."

Rodney frowned at that, gaze swiftly darting up to Beckett. "Wait a minute, are you saying she was attacked?" Fiercely his hand clasped around hers now, concern obvious in his features.

There was a deep sigh, Carson slipping the chart back into its slot on the bed. "Now, ah never said that did ah?" Folding his arms, he continued. "The best I can say is that it was a shock. The only damage she's got is the gash to her head, which we know was from the table 'cos of the blood there."

But then… "How? Why?" Rodney asked, shooting up from the chair. "Elizabeth's not that stupid; she wouldn't just stumble and fall, and hit the table. Maybe something pushed her?"

"Or someone?" Carson added, musing aloud.

"You think someone intentionally hurt her?" Rodney's eyes widened at that, his skin paling her. "I swear if anyone touched her, then I'll kill-"

"You do realise o'course Rodney, that you were the last one to see 'er?"

"What?!" Rodney suddenly cried, glaring to him. "You're suggesting that I hurt Elizabeth? I'd never do that! I-I lo-"

"He didn't hurt me…" Came a sudden quite murmur from below them both, Elizabeth's eyelids slowly flickering open, before she sent Rodney a dazzling smile. "He saved me."

The both of them blinking at that, Carson then sighed to Rodney. "I'm not the one who'd think that Rodney, believe me, I was only suggestin' what others woulda thought. Now, I'll leave you both alone."

Rodney watched him go with a deep frown, before turning back to Elizabeth as her hand clasped around his. "Rodney." She murmured softly, that same dazzling smile sent to him. Frowning still, Rodney returned to his seat, making no effort to retract his hand. "You seem like you're actually pleased to see me." He commented, watching her.

Elizabeth just continued to smile, while her grasp tightened around his hand. "Of course I am." She replied softly, her head tilting so that her gaze could meet his fully. "I went to see you at dinner. I missed you."

This was definitely weird. Rodney's surprise was evident, and he chuckled. "I guess they've been filling you with a lot of drugs eh? I'll leave you and come back when you're more yourself." He winced then as her grip tightened a weird focus within her eyes. She was a lot stronger then she looked. "Or not." He added lamely, sitting back down.

"Please, don't leave Rodney. Don't ever leave." That focus in her eyes began to unnerve him a bit, and he babbled. "Uh, I won't, I promise. I'm always here, always in the base. But I should go and check on the lab, really I should." The last bit was through gritted teeth, as Elizabeth's grip strengthened to that of a vice. "I don't want you to go!" She replied, more forcefully this time.

"Hey, hey, no distressin' ma patients!" Carson shouted, striding over to the bed. "What's goin' on here?"

"I was just about to leave." Rodney replied, noticing that as soon as Carson appeared, her grip suddenly released. "I think whatever drugs you've put Elizabeth on are a little too strong, she wasn't hurt that badly."

"But, I didn't put 'er on any drugs." Carson replied, noticing too late that Rodney had already gone, rubbing his hand as he went. Shaking his head, he glanced down to Elizabeth, surprised to find her so suddenly asleep. "Some people 'eh?" Sighing, he shook his head, before leaving to conduct some more tests.

------

Elizabeth awoke fully, that rainbow cloud still enveloping her. "What the hell is going on?!" She shouted, turning this way and that, trying to perceive anything. But all that came back were piercing emotions. Desire. Hunger. Desire. Hunger-wait, Rodney! "Rodney!" She shouted through the haze, trying to pierce it. "Rodney, you've gotta help me!"

Wait, wasn't he going? "No, don't go, DON'T GO!" She shouted, feeling herself grab hold of his hand. He had to stay, he just had too, and he had to help her. Too late though she felt the wince in his face, wincing herself. And Carson suddenly there. Releasing the grip, she shook her head. "No, I-I don't want to hurt him." Make Him Happy. The thought stuck in her mind, and she nodded. "Yes, make him happy. I don't want to hurt him. I want him to help me." Desire Him. "Y-yes, I suppose so." Elizabeth murmured, as she watched him go, feeling strength slowly going from her body. Good. Soon. Desire Fulfilled.

"Yes." Elizabeth murmured softly, as she drifted off to sleep once more.

------

"Anything?" John asked as he caught sight of Teyla.

"I am sorry, I have found nothing." Teyla replied with a soft sigh, strapping the gun back onto her. "There are many of Dr. McKay's discoveries here, but none which would seem to pose a threat."

"Great." John muttered, as he slotted his gun back. "Maybe we were looking in the wrong place anyway. I mean she fell at the table right?"

Teyla nodded, moving back to the front of the lab with him. "So you are saying that the cause has most likely not been moved from there."

"Well deduced my dear Watson." John quipped back to her, before adding. "Never mind, I'll explain later. There's only one problem though, that table was empty."

Teyla furrowed her brow softly, hands lacing behind her back. "John, you have forgotten also the arguments between the two Doctors, perhaps-"

"No." John immediately interrupted with. "There's no way on Earth, Atlantis, or any other planet that McKay would ever hurt Elizabeth. I mean, that'd be as insane as me hurting you."

"But I believe, not as insane as me hurting you?" Teyla smiled back to him, before moving forward.

John laughed, arms spreading. "Hey, if you wanna go, lets go girl. I've seen those sticks you use, they don't look so tough."

"Yes, but I do not necessarily need sticks." Teyla replied to him with, what John would've sworn, was a flirtatious smile, before kneeling down. "I believe I have found something. This canister, it looks familiar."

"Canister?" John kneeled down beside her, grasping it. "Oh geeze." He groaned, showing it to her properly. "It's the canister from the planet! And it's empty!"

Teyla blinked at that, studying it along with him. "But, I thought Dr. McKay said the force field was the strongest he had ever seen, that it could not be broken?"

John snorted at that, glancing back to her. "Have you ever known McKay to actually tell us the problems with an Ancient technology? He's always so concerned about the advantages; he never thinks it could fail."

Sighing then, Teyla asked. "But what does this mean? That the gas inside was actually something else?"

"It'd sure explain your weird feelings Teyla." Settling down fully on the floor, he tightened his grasp around the canister as if it was going to fly away or something, before continuing. "You never did finish that Athosian story of yours. You were up to the part about some demon kid or something?"

Teyla slipped into a cross-legged position, hands resting upon her knees. Scrutinising John, she replied. "I remember I had told you about the mother dying yes, and the father seeing her going to the Peace."

"In a glorious cloud of rainbow colours yadda, yadda, yadda."

Teyla shot him a look, before continuing. "Yes. As I said, the father thought nothing more of it. Obviously he was saddened by the loss of his wife and child, but within time, his grief passed, and he fell in love with one of his good friends."

"And let me guess." John mused then. "She became pregnant, he found out she had a demon child within her, and then they both died, with glorious rainbow coloured funeral?"

"I thought you said you had not heard this before?" Teyla asked, eyebrow rising.

"I guessed." John replied, before sighing. "Look, is there a moral, or some kind of actual ending to this story?"

"Yes. As you said, this continued to happen. The man became frightened, and decided to consult the Council. Unfortunately, they did not believe him, and he was sent away. By the time the Council eventually noticed, it was too late. There had been thousands of sightings of these rainbow spirits. They would inhabit women, causing them to mate, and then die with their child."

"Wait a minute, didn't the guys ever say no?" Hell that sounded impossible even as he said it.

"Many tried yes." Teyla replied, her eyes now sorrowful as she immersed herself fully in the tale. "However there were now so many spirits, that they were easily overcome. With the strength in numbers, the men were inhabited too, and mating occurred easily."

"But, if what you're saying is true then, the woman would eventually die out right? Because they died at childbirth, with the kid."

Teyla nodded to that, before sighing. "That was the power of the demons. They were constantly hungry, and their hunger could only be fulfilled by the energy of a host. When the women were there, the demon would grow within her, consuming her and helping the child-demon to grow, multiplying in numbers. However when only the men remained, they were overtaken also, ripped apart from the inside."

John winced obviously at that, trying his best not to imagine that. "So, that planet we stepped on is the planet then." Shuddering, a thought then struck him. "Wait a minute, if it really is the world, and all that happened… how the hell did it get a force field on it?"

To that, Teyla just shrugged. "I do not know. The force field was never mentioned within the story. My Father only told it, to warn me of the dangers of allowing your demons to be set free. Going to the Peace, must involve all of you, such as happened truly to the Ancestors."

"Hmm, yeh." John murmured, before glancing back to her. "Look, we'd better find McKay. He was the one who knew the most about this canister."

"But this is a difficult time for him, it seems a little-"

"Callous?" John supplied, before clambering back up from the floor. "We've got no choice Teyla. This demon thing, or whatever it is, is loose in the city now, and if you're right, then it could start off a seriously damaging chain reaction."

At that moment McKay walked into the lab, blinking as he saw John and Teyla. "You guys still here?" He asked, before his gaze fell to what John was carrying. "What the-where did you get that from?"

"We found it on the floor." Teyla replied for John, before gesturing to it. "There is no doubt at what it is Doctor. I have told John of a tale, that tells the story of the planet we visited, but it made no mention of the force field we found there."

"But it was helpful in one way." John smiled to Teyla, before explaining to them both. "It tells us that this problem was started by the Ancients, so no doubt, it was solved by them too. Which means-"

"It might be in the database!" Rodney suddenly exclaimed, a wide grin on his features. "Then all we have to do is what they did, and we're free of this… whatever it is." Taking the canister from John, he grinned. "I'll start working on this right now."

"McKay." John suddenly stopped him, concern obvious on his face. "Wait a minute, we need to talk." Sighing a little, he asked. "How is Elizabeth?"

"Well, Carson said she seems to be okay, just a bit of a shock before she hit her head off the table." Rodney waved the canister absently here. "Probably just this thing escaping, no doubt it knocked her back and caused her to fall."

"Nothing else?" John probed further, watching Rodney carefully.

Rolling his eyes, Rodney sighed. "What are you trying to get at?"

"I believe..." Teyla said softly. "That John is trying to ascertain what exactly happened to the rainbow creature…"

"What, you think it shot inside Elizabeth or something?" Rodney suddenly scoffed. "Look, we don't even know for certain that this gas is anything more then that. I mean, not every gas thing is going to be some sort of half-ascended alien that will automatically inhabit people is it?"

"No…" Teyla cautioned, before adding. "However, the story my Father told…"

"Is a story Teyla." Rodney snapped back to her. "Probably a tale to scare you and the rest of the Athosians when you were children. Look, I spoke to Elizabeth, she's a bit woozy from the head hit, but apart from that, she's absolutely fine."

Teyla pursed her lips, a rare flicker of her anger. "Doctor, that tale is one that has been passed down from generations to generat-"

"Generations of simpletons." Rodney scoffed once more. "Look, I don't have time for fanciful tales Teyla. I'm going to do my job, and work on the facts." Not even bothering to say any more, he moved off further into the lab.

John gently placed his hand on the small of Teyla's back, pushing her forward out of the lab, even as she started to reply. "Just forget him Teyla." John soothed, as they stepped out of the lab. "He's obviously upset after what happened to Elizabeth, and the best thing for him right now is to study that canister."

"There was no need to insult my people though." Teyla defended herself with, arms folding as the two walked. "I know the Doctor sees us as 'simple', but we are happy with the life we have chosen."

"Look, he knows that deep down, he really does. But you know McKay; he lashes out when he's hurt." John nudged her a little then, grinning. "He'll come crawling soon enough, probably when this is all finished with."

"Yes, I suppose you are right." Teyla mused, before frowning a touch. "Do you truly believe that the alien creature is within Doctor Weir? We have no proof of the fact…"

"Maybe not." John replied. "But we do know some facts. That rainbow thing is definitely some kind of weird alien presence, most likely a more intelligent form of that energy-eating monster we had to deal with before. We also know that Elizabeth was the last one with it. I can't see the thing being too choosy."

"It is certainly possible." Teyla agreed, before adding. "However, again we have no proof of the fact."

"Then we get proof."

As Teyla gave him a 'how' expression, John just grinned. "Well put it this way, there's only one way to find out, and that's to speak to Elizabeth."

Teyla nodded to that, changing her movements as he did to head for the infirmary. "Perhaps, Dr. Beckett has found some things that could tell us if indeed she is different."

"Maybe, but I wouldn't hold out any hope. This is a job for my expert interrogation techniques." Thankfully John didn't see Teyla's dubious look at that, quickly switching to a smile that matched his own, before they both headed into the medical bay.

Elizabeth poked her head around the corner once more, letting a sigh of relief pass her mouth. Gone, they were gone. Tilting her head side-to-side, she moved off once more. This new body was certainly different to what they had been used too, a little more primitive, but the energy was there nonetheless. It was so easy, her weakness so obvious. At times of course she awoke, but only enough to aid in any questions. The hunger was hard, but the flesh aided in keeping it at bay, enough for clear thought anyway.

Ah, the lab. Where her mate, as she read, often resided. There was no concept in the mind of what was truly attractive, but to this one, this… Rodney seemed to be. Smoothing down her clothes, she stepped inside.

"Rodney." Came her pleasant greeting, a warm smile sent, even as he sent her a surprised look. Calmer. The human had been scared by the outburst before. This would take time. For now at least, that was not a problem.

"Elizabeth." Rodney was certainly surprised, gaze shifting to her head. The cut had already begun to heal, bandage removed. "I guess it was just superficial or something."

"Yes." Elizabeth replied, before laughing softly. Laughter, another old memory. Further, she stepped into the lab. Alone with them, was always the better option. Her own gaze swept the area, suddenly focusing on the canister. With a quick flick, the canister was in her hand. "What is _this_ doing here?" She snapped, hand trembling as she resisted the urge to crush it. Despite her anger, she knew that would alarm the human.

Rodney blinked, gently moving to take it back from her. "It's the canister Elizabeth, remember?" Her grip subsided enough for him to remove it as he supplied. "I was just taking it apart; see what was wrong with it."

"Oh." Elizabeth nodded to that, trying her best to hide her pleasure. "Good, it should be dismantled."

Rodney frowned at her, idly pushing the canister away before his gaze flickered to her head once more. "Are you sure you should be up and about? I'm surprised Beckett let you out so early."

"He was most kind." Elizabeth replied, smile frozen. "Said that there was no more need for me to rest, as my head was much better. And the rest of me. Rodney…" Gently, her voice warmed a little, a sound that made Rodney relax. It sounded like Elizabeth. "I'm sorry for the argument, and the way that I scared you in the bed. I was just worried that you were going to leave because, well, because I trust you so much." Stepping very close, she murmured to him. "Do you trust me?"

Rodney gulped quite obviously, a reflexive response with Elizabeth's proximity. "O-of course I do." He then replied, a warm smile coming to his features. "I trust you completely Elizabeth. When you were hurt, I was so worried about you, but now-"

"Now, I'm much better." One hand braced on the table, bringing her closer to him, her words finished with a soft breath. "Thanks to you."

"Me?" Rodney squeaked, before promptly clearing his throat. "Uh, I mean, me? I-I just found you Elizabeth that's all, if you'd collapsed anywhere else..."

"It wasn't just then." Elizabeth murmured her other hand rising to gently caress his cheek. "From the first moment I met you, you saved me Rodney. You, Rodney McKay, are my saviour."

Oh God, she was leaning in! Rodney gulped once more, heart ready to pop out of his chest at any moment, and it was an inevitable pull. Those soft lips of hers, her eyelashes fluttering closer, and all he could do was lean in, give in to what he'd denied himself for so long…

"Get the hell off of him you life-sucking-rainbow-hell-monster! Or so help me, I'll shoot you right now, even if it is Elizabeth's body."

Rodney didn't dart back as his body had hoped, namely because of the strong grip that Elizabeth had somehow enacted upon him, but his head did turn to spot John, Ford, Teyla and a few guards he didn't know the name of and had never bothered to find out. All of them had some sort of weapon raised. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Rodney finally managed to ask, gently extricating himself from the rather awkward position with Elizabeth, aided by the fact that she too stepped away. "It comes to something when I can't enjoy an int... uh, have a private conversation with Dr. Weir in my own lab!"

"That is not Dr. Weir." Teyla replied, gun still poised on Elizabeth.

"Well, in a way it is." Ford pointed out, silencing quickly though as John just shot him a look.

"Basically, it's Dr. Weir's body, it's just not her controlling it." John explained, gun quickly re-aiming on Elizabeth. "Hey, you're not going anywhere missy."

"John, stop this!" Elizabeth replied, her eyes wide. "I know you've disrespected me before, but this is ridiculous! It's nothing short of treason!"

"Yeah, maybe if you weren't some freaky rainbow alien!" Ford shouted, his own gun focusing on her once more. "Now we can either do this the hard way or-"

"Ford." John cautioned, his head shaking.

Rodney just couldn't believe any of this, moving in front of Elizabeth. "If anything, you're the ones who are crazy! There's nothing wrong with Elizabeth, okay?"

"I dunno about that, she _was_ going to kiss you Rodney."

He ignored the quip from Ford, continuing. "Look, while you're in here playing 'shoot the leader' that alien thing is out there taking control of someone!"

"Fine, fine." John replied, his gun slowly lowering, despite the looks from his small armed group. "But just tell me one thing then. If she's so innocent, why did she try to kill Beckett?"

"What?!" Rodney cried, gaze snapping to Elizabeth. "You tried to kill Carson?" Even he couldn't believe he was saying it, but still, she had seemed weird. And all of a sudden going to kiss him? Was it too good to be true?


	5. Realization

**Just a few quick updatey things. I've changed the rating to R, because, well just to be careful really. Also, I know that officially they've changed Jane to Kate Heightmeyer in the series, but I've decided not to change it within the story. I like the name Jane better, and it separates it a little from the real series. This story is going on a lot longer then I'd imagined, and I hope you guys are enjoying it. I'm planning some fun stuff up ahead. So review if you like it, constructive criticism if you don't, and I'll update as soon as I can!**

Elizabeth stared back at them all, her hands quietly flexing. She could quite easily overpower them if she wanted too, but then the body would undoubtedly be lost. The loud human in front of her seemed like he would hold to his word. Frantically, she scurried through the body's memories, before allowing a soft smile.

"John." She murmured, stepping forward. "It's me, Elizabeth. Don't you recognise me? If I really was some sort of life-sucking alien, don't you think I would have done something brash by now? Remember the energy forms we've already met?"

John hesitated for a moment, before shaking his head. "No, you're not getting off that easily. Besides, as far as we know, you're the one who stabbed Carson with that needle."

"She stabbed Carson?!" Rodney's eyes widened, and he jumped forward. "Will someone please tell me what the hell has been going on?"

Elizabeth was smart enough to at least look shocked by the news. "I don't know what you're talking about! Dr. Beckett gave me the all clear just a few moments ago. Then I came down here to speak to Rodney."

"Strange that." John remarked, eyeing her still. "'Cos me and Teyla just came from here. You would think we'd bump into each other wouldn't you?"

"Atlantis is a large place." Elizabeth shrugged back to him, showing no signs of sweating just yet.

"Hmm, yeah."

"This attempt is getting us nowhere." Teyla quietly remarked, glancing between the two. "Perhaps it would be best if we came to some sort of agreement."

"Yes, perhaps it would be." Rodney agreed, glancing to Elizabeth. He was still so uncertain. She had that strange focus in her eyes like before, but it was hard to believe that, well that Elizabeth could be controlled so easily. "Maybe, if Elizabeth would agree to have some tests done…?"

John stretched a little, his gaze, and his gun, not wavering though. "Would she?"

Elizabeth pursed her lips. Tests. Of course the Doctor had proved that these humans' technology was quite primitive. Needles; such fragile and yet dangerous things. "Very well." She nodded, sending John a light smile.

John just shuddered, before gesturing to Ford. "Take her to the infirmary Ford."

"I… would prefer it if Rodney came with me, if that's allowed?"

Rodney hesitated obviously, before saying. "I-uh, I think that I should perhaps stay here. Work on the canister and everything." At her obvious frown, he quickly added. "I'll catch up with you later?"

"Yes. I'll look forward to it." She literally purred to him, causing even Teyla's eyes to widen in surprise.

As Ford led her out, Rodney just leaned against the table behind him, letting out a sigh of relief. This was turning out to be one hell of a freaky day. John's eyebrows remained raised as he moved over to Rodney. "Well now." He breathed. "That's certainly something you don't witness every day."

"You're telling me." Rodney muttered, head shaking. "I don't know what's gotten into her…"

"I think it's pretty damn obvious." John replied, as he strapped his gun back on. "Some weird alien, rainbow gas thing."

Rodney frowned to him. "You don't know that for certain okay? Sure she's been acting a little strange-"

"A _little_ strange?!" John laughed, arms erupting. "McKay, we saw her moving in to kiss you, and she just damn well purred at you! Have you ever heard Elizabeth purr?"

"Only at about 3am in my head." Rodney admitted with a sheepish smile.

John decided for his own mental health to ignore that, as he ploughed on. "Rodney, she's trying to seduce you! It's just like the story Teyla told me. They inhabit the women, seduce the men, and then have freaky gas babies." He glanced to Teyla then, asking. "That about right?"

"Close enough." Teyla smiled back to him, before glancing to Rodney. "John is right. I cannot say for certain she has been inhabited, but she was here when the gas was released, and she has most certainly been acting strangely. Plus, she was the last one to see Carson un-injured."

Rodney just sighed once more, latching on to the topic that didn't make him think too much about Elizabeth being inhabited by an alien being. "What exactly did happen with Carson? Is he hurt too badly?"

"Well he isn't exactly dancing around with joy, you can say that for sure." John quipped, before continuing. "Me and Teyla went to the infirmary after we'd spoken to you. Of course, by the time we got there, Elizabeth had left, so we decided to ask Carson if he'd found anything out. Unfortunately that turned out to be kind of difficult, because he was slumped on the floor, with a massive needle sticking out of his chest."

Rodney winced at that. "So someone flung a needle at him?"

"More likely stabbed." Teyla supplied. "It was embedded quite deeply. Fortunately, it was not very accurate, and one of the nurses was capable of removing it without further injury."

"So where is he now?" Rodney asked, his eyes now wide with concern. Carson was pretty close to being his best friend, the two of them always sparring, but he certainly didn't deserve any of this. And the horrible thought kept creeping into his mind; it was probably Elizabeth that had done it.

"At the moment still unconscious." Teyla replied, looking relieved herself that Beckett hadn't been hurt too badly. "One of the nurses, Jennifer I believe, is taking care of him."

"So at least he'll have a nice awakening then…" Rodney mused, idly taking hold of the canister and tossing it within his hands. "Okay lets say for the sake of argument, that Elizabeth has been inhabited by whatever was within this canister. What can we do about it?"

"Well.." Teyla mused. "We may still be able to discover answers within the Ancient database. Perhaps it would be best to start our search there."

"Well, the best person for the database is always Grodin." Rodney replied, still toying with the canister. "The Ancients were pretty succinct when it came to their technology, I'm guessing it shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Yeah." John murmured back, his real focus on Rodney's growing depression. "We'll go and speak to him about it. In the meantime… uh… don't do anything stupid right?"

Teyla shot him a look at that, but Rodney merely chuckled. "You mean besides bringing back an artefact that has endangered Atlantis and pretty much taken over Elizabeth? I think I can manage that for an hour or so."

John paused, watching McKay. He really wasn't good in these sorts of situations, it was usually Elizabeth that, well, yeh, that was the problem really. "Right." He finally came out with, before moving out. Teyla sent Rodney a smile, before hurrying after John.

------

"That was not the best approach." Teyla commented, as she caught up with the quickly departing John.

"Yeah, well, you don't need to tell me that Teyla." John muttered, fiddling with the cuff of his shirt. "Hell, you know I'm not good in these sorts of situations. Whatever we walked into, well, it's not something I'm too comfortable with."

Teyla's features froze obviously, coolness entering her tone as she asked. "Is this perhaps because you have feelings for the Doctor yourself?"

John's eyes widened, glancing to her. "McKay? God n-"

"No!" Teyla shouted, arms raising. "And I hope that you were joking John. I obviously meant Dr. Weir."

John couldn't help but notice the coolness entering her tone once more, stopping. Without warning, he took hold of her arm and pulled her into one of the nearby cargo rooms. Teyla's surprise gave him enough time to formulate a proper response. "Yes, I was joking there. And no, I don't. I won't deny there's a spark, or something, between us, but that's just our hard exteriors rubbing off each other. She likes to do things one way, I like to do them another." Catching his breath, he then quickly added. "Believe me, there is absolutely _nothing_ between me and Elizabeth." And how he so wanted her to believe that.

The reality of where they were hit them both at the same time, and John promptly stepped back. "Uh, sorry." He muttered, his frustration showing as he slumped down onto a nearby crate. It was clear that even after many months, the inevitable cargo-contained closets still remained upon Atlantis.

Teyla smiled softly, and then laughed, moving towards him. Placing her hands upon his, she moved forward and rested her head against his, similar to the way she had when she had first come to Atlantis. "John, I wonder sometimes if perhaps we are not as bad as the two Doctors." Then without another word, she straightened up, and walked out of the room.

John blinked at one of the nearby crates, realised what he was doing, and then jumped up and ran out.

"Hey Teyla, wait up!" He shouted, moving to catch up with her. Sometimes he really didn't understand woman, and at this moment he chose not to pry further, instead just grinning to her. "Off to the wonderful archive then I guess?"

"It seems like the best course of action yes." Teyla replied with a soft smile. "Dr. McKay was right about the Ancestors technology, it will most likely give us the answer straight away."

"I hope so." John muttered. "'Cos I don't think I could handle any more of this stuff with Elizabeth, even worse, imagine consoling McKay if anything bad happens to her?"

Teyla nodded to that, lapsing into silence as they moved on.

------

Rodney sighed as he stared at the remnants of the canister in front of him. Nothing, absolutely nothing. There was the mini-ZPM, the metal parts, and that was it. "I don't get it." He muttered, holding the metal up in his fingers. "How the hell does the force field stay up? I mean, there's the ZPM, but nothing else except for the metal." Shaking his head, he tossed the metal away, starting to wonder if perhaps the problem was him. Elizabeth was forefront in his mind, even more so then usual. She was one of the strongest people he knew, and yet supposedly had this alien being residing inside her? And then, and then she'd tried to kiss him and he hadn't resisted, not even tried too. Not once had he thought about Jane.

Sighing then, he started to reconstruct the canister. "There's something, something about you…"

"Talking to your experiments again Rodney?"

Rodney jumped, swivelling round, half-expecting it to be Elizabeth. When he noticed Jane though, he did his best to hide the look of disappointment. Ignoring the sinking feeling in his heart, he managed to send her a light smile. "Yeah well, sometimes they're the only things I get intelligent responses from."

"You just don't give people a good enough chance." Jane replied, crossing the lab with easy strides. A glance was sent to the metal but interest quickly discarded, before she smiled to him. "How are you feeling? I heard you found Dr. Weir."

Rodney tilted his head at that, curiously asking. "Shouldn't you be asking how she is? Like you said, I just found her."

Pursing her lips, Jane replied. "Yes, well, I've heard all about _her_." The emphasis was unmistakeable, and Rodney found himself instinctively rising to protect Elizabeth once more.

"What exactly have you heard, and who from?"

"I've just been to see how Carson is that's all." Jane replied, arms folding now, her countenance slowly darkening. She hardly ever displayed her emotions, and it caused Rodney to watch her more intently. Heralding no reply, Jane continued further. "He wasn't quite awake yet, but the nurse told me what had happened. How Dr. Weir attacked him-"

"There's no proof of that!" Rodney quickly shot back, his own features darkening. "There's been enough scape-goating as it is, and it should stop!" Surprised at his own anger, he turned away from Jane, focusing solely on the canister.

A soft sigh came from behind him, before Jane's slender fingers rested gently upon his shoulder, pulling him back round to her. "Rodney." She murmured, forcing him to look at her. "I understand you're protective of Dr. Weir, she is one of your closest friends after all. But Carson is also one of mine, and he's obviously innocent in all of this."

Rodney frowned softly at that, unable to deny her words, no matter how much his heart told him that he should. His brain cut through his warring emotions, and he managed a solemn nod. "Yes, I suppose you're right. About that at least, Carson has been hurt. How is he?"

Smiling as she pulled back from him, Jane replied. "Good, as far as I could tell anyway. He wasn't quite awake yet, but the nurse seems to think that he'll be fine and back up on his feet in no time."

"Glad to hear it." Rodney breathed out with relief, before furrowing his brow a touch. "But, well, he was still attacked, and we need to find out what was wrong with him. I should really-"

"I believe what you should do, is come with me to see Carson." Jane smoothly interrupted, deftly slipping her arm through his. "No doubt he'll be a bit more awake now, and I'm sure there's more chance of him answering your questions then the canister."

Rodney chuckled a touch at that, settling into a leisurely pace with Jane beside him. Privately he wondered why he'd been so preoccupied with Elizabeth lately. Right now he was with this lovely, sophisticated woman, who actually took the time to be with him. So why did he still feel a pull towards Elizabeth? It was one of the many questions that seemed to be piling up in his mind.

------

John glanced around the main control area, muttering under his breath.

"John." Teyla warned. "Dr. Grodin's non-presence is not a valid reason for you to mutter such words."

John just blinked back to her at that. "You've got better hearing then I thought, and well, it's slightly frustrating. We've got an infected Elizabeth and we can't access the archive 'cos Grodin's not here."

"You can't just use your cool Ancient powers?"

John's head swivelled round and he rolled his eyes towards Ford. "It's not as simple as that. The archive's different it's, well it's massive. Grodin's a lot better with the actual controls then I am." Frowning then, he warned. "Anyway, you shouldn't be here, you should be guarding our alien 'friend'."

As Teyla rolled her eyes, Ford just chuckled. "There's nothing to worry about Major okay? I think it really is Elizabeth, she seemed like her usual pleasant self when we walked to the infirmary."

"Pfft." John succinctly rebuffed him with before shaking his head. "I still don't trust her okay she's just, no it's not Elizabeth. I just know it." Sighing then, he shrugged. "I guess Grodin's not gonna show up for a bit." Glancing to Teyla, he smiled. "Fancy a short walk?"

"Uh, actually…" Teyla hesitated at that, her gaze flicking to Ford. "I-um, I think perhaps I should give Dr. Grodin a few more minutes. He most likely is preparing some nourishment for himself."

Frowning deeply at that, John followed her gaze to Ford and then back. The Lieutenant was looking surprisingly sheepish, and he found himself shooting the younger man a glare. "You don't have to lie to me either Ford, I know how you feel about needles, you could've just said." Sending his frown Teyla's way as well, he added. "I'll just go and see the Doc on my own then." Why the hell did he feel like a five year-old? Muttering once more, he strode off, trying his best to hide the pangs of jealousy.

Teyla purposefully waited until John was out of earshot before she approached Ford with a warm smile. "I am sorry for that Lieutenant, but this must be kept a secret. You wish to do this?"

Ford just grinned to her, swinging his pack round. "Yes M'am, got everything we need right here. It's gonna be fun." He even dared to send her a light wink, before clearing some space on the nearby desk.

------

Rodney just stared down at Carson, eyes wide at the vision of his friend. Skin paler then usual, his eyes lacked their usual lively lustre.

"Aye, I'm alive." Carson quipped weakly, as he noticed Rodney's expression. "Sorry ta disappoint and all."

Rodney bit his lip, head shaking then. "No-no, I'm glad, really glad. How are you-"

"Feelin'? Like I've had a very large needle thrust through ma chest." Smiling then, he added. "Oh wait, ah have."

Jane stepped forward as if from nowhere, sending Carson a soft smile. "But you're feeling better now, right?"

Carson nodded, and despite the wince, managed another smile. "Damned irritated really though. It's not normally the doctor who ends up bein' the patient, I feel a'right silly."

Chuckling at that, Jane patted his hand softly. "It's alright, it's a normal reaction when you switch power roles."

Rodney frowned at Jane at that, tone icy. "I don't think he needs the psychobabble at a time like this Jane. He is trying to recuperate."

"I was only trying to help." Jane replied defensively, her tone flickering with notes of anger. For Jane, that was a lot, and it caused Rodney to pause.

Sighing then, he glanced to Carson. "What exactly did happen Carson? The Major just said he and Teyla found you with the needle, I mean, who did this?"

"I don't think he needs to tell us, she seems to be right here." Jane slid in icily, arms folding as she nodded towards the approaching figure of Elizabeth, the Doctor idly rubbing her arm.

"I didn't know there were so many tests you could do on someone." Elizabeth broke the leaden silence with nervously, instinctively seeking out Rodney with her gaze as she approached.

Jane frowned, stepping a little closer to Rodney and shooting her a look. "Shouldn't you be in a padded cell somewhere?"

"Shouldn't you be in your freezer?" Elizabeth snapped back, her hand immediately flying to her mouth afterwards. This was definitely strange. She'd felt better during the tests, like she'd been waking up but now… now everything was going again.

Jane didn't even reply to that, simply spinning on one heel and stalking out.

All eyes swivelled to Rodney, his own gaze sternly fixated on Elizabeth. A slight nudge from Carson woke him up, and he blinked. "Wha-what?"

"Ya not goin' after ya girl?" Carson asked, eyebrows raised. "I'd not let one like 'er get away Rodney."

Rodney blinked down at him, gaze flickering around, before he finally muttered. "Uh, I-I'll let her cool down first I think."

"Good." Elizabeth found herself saying, moving forward and slipping her arm through Rodney's. "Because I wanted to steal you away for a bit." It was becoming so much easier now, there was less resistance. True melding. She'd never felt more like herself.

"Uh, actually though, I was hoping to hear-"

"Doc!" John strode in, wide grin upon his features. "I thought you'd like some company. Oh…" His grin promptly reversed then as he spotted Elizabeth, noticeably her closeness to Rodney. "You think being so close to the rainbow alien is such a good idea McKay? She might grab you and start sucking life out of you."

"This isn't Star Trek, Major." Rodney replied curtly, discretely removing himself from Elizabeth's grip though. "Besides, there's still no proof of that."

"Oh really?" John replied, glancing to Carson. "I believe it's time to be told the truth about Beckett's little 'accident' isn't it?"

"Oh come on Major, if Elizabeth really did do this, wouldn't he have said something by now?"

"If you'd let ma get a word in edgeways then perhaps a might!" Carson suddenly shouted, before breaking into a fit of wheezing. Both wincing, John and Rodney strode forward.

"Look what you've done!"

"What _I've_ done?! You're the one who's accusing Elizabeth without any proof! But that's the Major Shepherd way isn't it, dive in headfirst without thinking of consequences?"

"No, I think of _people_ McKay, unlike you who only ever thinks of himself, or stealing ZPM's from whoever, no matter the price."

"Oh yeah, you were really thinking of people when you set the Wraith upon the whole of the Pegasus galaxy again weren't you?"

John growled at that, leaning on what was formerly Carson's bed, and now his and McKay's battleground. "Yes, I was, I was trying to save them. And thank God I did, because if you were in charge, you'd never have had the guts. You'd have found some corner somewhere to crawl into and cry yourself to death!" He spat the words angrily, and didn't hear them back fully until they'd been out in the air for a few moments.

"I see we haven't missed much." Teyla's quiet tones slowly permeated into the fuelled silence, as she stepped into the area with Ford. Gingerly, she moved in front of John, separating him from the bed. Smiling down to Carson then, she murmured. "I am glad to see you are alive Doctor. It would be a great loss to Atlantis if you had not."

Carson regained what little breath he had, nodding back to her. "Aye, I'm not disagreeing with ya lass. Although I think these two could do with a shot o' ma strongest tranquiliser each."

"Yeah, well, he started it." Was all Rodney could manage to mutter, trying to ignore the flush he felt coming to his cheeks.

John just rolled his eyes, before muttering back. "Did not."

Ford sighed, folding his arms as he stood at the end of the bed. "Yeesh, and I thought _I_ was the youngest one here. From what I can see, there's only one way to settle this."

"You're right." John nodded, everyone else joining him as his gaze locked on Carson. "So come on Doc, what happened, what did you find out?"

Carson flinched a little from all the attention, before sitting up in the bed. Sighing softly then, he shrugged. "Well, the attack itself was strange enough. There's no doubt that there's some kinda alien presence on board, and I'd say it definitely had a rainbow quality to it-"

"Hah!" John shouted, pointing to Elizabeth. "What'd I tell you?!"

"I'm not finished!" Carson shot John a glare, pausing to cough, before continuing. "It wasn't Elizabeth who attacked me though. I'd spoken to her a few minutes before and told her she could go, then I went back into the lab. I was stood there looking through the test results, then I saw something behind me. This weird, rainbow cloud. Next thing I know, lab is goin' wild, all ma instruments, everything." Shuddering at the memory, he then lapsed into silence.

Rodney was the one to finally speak. "Wait, so you're saying the gas cloud itself attacked you? Sent the needle flying towards you on its own?"

"Ah believe so, yes." Carson replied, before anticipating the next question. "And no, the tests showed nothing. Just that Elizabeth had been shocked. It's likely that she was attacked like I was in the entity's effort t' escape."

John just shook his head at that, features growing dark. "I don't believe it Doc. If that presence was here on its own, we'd be able to detect it. It's in someone." Pointedly then, he looked towards Elizabeth.

"Haven't we just proved my innocence?" Elizabeth asked, eyes wide. "John, it's me okay? Why won't you believe me?"

"Because my gut tells me I shouldn't." Came John's honest reply, and he made no effort to deny it afterwards.

"Well, perhaps you should use your head for once." Rodney shot back. "Carson said he was attacked by the cloud, not Elizabeth, and he found nothing out of the ordinary about her."

"Well I've seen her do a hell of a lot of out of the ordinary things lately." John shuddered at those thoughts. "Some of them are gonna take a few weeks of banging my head against a wall to forget."

"Boys." Elizabeth warned, hands raising. "Look, how about this? I'm not infected, but, since I don't want the Major to be continually paranoid of me, I'll suspend gate operations for the time being, until we can get all of this cleared up, okay?"

It was certainly a gesture that threw John for a loop, and he had to compose himself before he could agree. "Fine. But any more tests the Doc thinks of, you have to comply with, right?"

"Right." Elizabeth replied, soft smile sent. "I promise. Now, perhaps we should give Dr. Beckett some time to rest, hmm?"

Everyone easily agreed with that, various forms of 'see you later', and 'be well' passed around from each one, before they headed off their separate ways.

------

Teyla waited patiently outside the infirmary, stepping easily into a stride as John stalked straight past her. It was a few moments before John suddenly noticed her there. "What-the, why are you following me?"

"Who said I am following you?" Teyla asked innocently, gaze focused ahead of her.

Blinking, John gestured. "You're-you're following me! It's pretty damn obvious. I mean, you don't even know where I'm going."

"The gym."

"Uh-." John blinked at that, muttering 'lucky guess' under his breath. "Okay, so you know where I'm going, but you still don't need to come with me if you don't want too."

"You are perhaps afraid that your inner aggression will somehow resort to you hurting me unintentionally, or worse, intentionally?"

"Dang, you're good!" John allowed himself to loosen up a little, before nodding. "Yeah, maybe. I need to work out this energy Teyla, and I'd rather hurt a dummy then you."

"Why Major." For the first time since the start of their walk, she looked at him, a playful smirk dancing across her lips. "That sounds like a challenge." With ease then she focused ahead once more, and continued walking.

John just stared at her, mouth open for a moment, before he moved to catch up. Grinning to her, he nodded. "Okay then, it is. What do you say?"

"I say-oh, what is it you say?" Smirking to him again, she recited. "'Prepare to get your ass kicked'?"

------

Rodney's pace was a lot slower then John's out of the infirmary, so much so it took him twice as long then normal to reach the lab. Of course it was his natural destination after all the recent muddling events. All he could think to do was to get back to working on the canister. His dreaminess was enough that he didn't notice Elizabeth perched on one of the tables until the door shut behind him. Blinking, he glanced back, and then forward. "Uh, that's weird." He managed to mutter, before his gaze focused on Elizabeth. "So is this. Why're you sat on one of my tables?"

"I'm waiting for you Rodney." Elizabeth replied so simply, as if there was nothing at all weird about the fact she was perched there.

"Uh, right. Look, Elizabeth-" Rodney began, but didn't get to finish as Elizabeth slid off the table and bridged the gap between them quicker then he would have expected.

"Yes?" She asked softly, eyes locking intensely on his.

"Um." Rodney mumbled, hurriedly stepping back. With each successive pace, Elizabeth bridged the gap, his mind focusing solely on not tripping over his feet. Normally he wasn't the most agile, but in this situation it was nigh impossible.

Suddenly, with obvious frustration, Elizabeth pushed him back against the wall they'd been nearing so quickly, her hands entwining with his.

"Y-You know what?" Rodney stuttered, adding a gulp just to delay his fit of shock. "I-I've completely forgotten what I'd meant to say."

"Well now that's good." Oh God, she was purring again. Rodney's throat quivered and he made no attempt to even speak.

"Because…" Elizabeth leaned in, her warm breath dancing across his ear. "I didn't really feel like talking anyway." Gently, her tongue flicked out across his neck, and it was enough to make Rodney let out a moan of frustration. He really, really, _really_ shouldn't be feeling as good as he did at that, but he knew, he knew… well, he knew that as she moved to lean in now, there was no way he could resist her.

As their lips met, he pulled her even closer, hands delving into her hair. She seemed intent on arousing him as much as possible, forcefully wrapping a leg around his waist and rubbing in very intimate areas. He could barely think, all he could do was feel, feel as she kissed him so deeply, feel as she made him give in to everything he'd wanted, but never dared admit.

And then just as quickly, her lips had suddenly disappeared, and he was left standing there, feeling like a cruel joke had just been played on him. She didn't even say a word! She just sent him a cheerful smile as she walked away, and out of the lab.

Slowly he slid down the wall and on to the floor, letting out a long low moan of frustration into his hands. Closing his eyes, he rested his head against the wall and sighed. "Damn it." He muttered. "She's a freaky rainbow alien."


	6. Formulating a Plan

(Not much of an action chapter, but I needed one to sort of link things together. I'm working on the next one now, so I'll get it up as soon as possible. Enjoy!)

The sound of battling staffs echoed around the gym, various grunts and admissions of defeat added for dramatic effect. It was with one loud 'crack' that the two staffs met forcefully, John and Teyla staring each other down.

"So, here we are." John replied, small beads of sweat glistening on his forehead, threatening to roll down at any moment.

"Indeed." Teyla replied, her features continually neutral. Clothed in the same vest and shorts gym gear as the Major, the only difference seemed to be her lack of heat. While the Major stood there, trying to control his need for air, Teyla merely stood her ground, the only flicker in her features that of a curious tilt of her head.

Finally John relaxed a little, his face at least, and he grinned to her. "So far it's a draw, you got any tricks up your sleeve?"

For a moment Teyla looked offended at that, before replying softly. "I am not a trickster John. If I beat you, it will be with my skill, not because of cheating."

"Eh, yeah." John replied, chuckling a little nervously. With a broad grin then, he suddenly stood back. "Look, why don't we call it a draw? We're both tired, and I've pretty much worked off all my anger that I had."

Seeming contented with that, Teyla nodded. Deftly she stepped back herself, positioning the staff next to her. "It has certainly been fun John." A warm smile graced her features, before she turned and moved to head back to her things.

With a silent grin, John swung up his staff, moving to sweep it beneath Teyla's feet. However a smack round the side of his head disoriented him, not to mention a repeated one as he collapsed on to his back. Blinking for a moment to clear his vision, he glanced up to see Teyla with her staff and foot holding him down, a light smirk sent to him.

"Hey! You said you didn't cheat."

"I don't." Teyla replied simply, pushing him down with her staff. "However I know when others are preparing too, and act accordingly to save myself."

"Humph." John replied, struggling to get up again. As he obviously failed, he stuck out his bottom lip, eyes widening. "Please? Come on Teyla, you've beaten me enough today."

Gaze softening, Teyla sighed. "Very well John, I shall get off you."

A mischievous gleam suddenly entered John's eyes, and he used the renewed freedom to knock Teyla's own staff beneath her foot. With a rather sophisticated 'oof', Teyla landed on top of John. Grinning like a Cheshire cat up to her, John winked. "Hi there." He smirked. "What happened to you getting off me?"

Teyla frowned, positioning her hands on either side of him to give her some leverage. "I _was_ until you surprised me and knocked me over."

"And here I thought you were prepared for anything?"

Teyla just rolled her eyes, before moving to get up. Unfortunately John's grip around her waist promptly nullified her attempt. "John." She sighed. "Would you allow me to get up?"

"You mean you can't get up yourself?"

"It is quite obvious that I can't." Teyla replied, a hint of frustration entering her voice. Her glare down towards him increased even more as he just laughed up to her.

"Y'know." He contemplated openly. "You're beautiful when you're angry…"

Unused to the Earth humour that statement was usually associated with, Teyla found a blush coming to her cheeks, just staring down at him. John stared back up, having suddenly realised that he wasn't with just any girl from Earth, and that she'd read more into that then he'd intended. Feeling uncharacteristically nervous, John licked his now dry lips, before hazarding. "I didn't mean…"

Teyla's mouth fell from the smile it was forming, and she nodded. "Yes, of course not. Earth humour." Her voice grew quieter to that, gaze suddenly averting from his.

God-damnit! He hadn't meant it like that, but now he did, or at least thought he did. All he could think about was Teyla on top of him, obviously hurting from something he'd said. "Teyla…" He murmured softly, trying his best to bring her closer.

"Major! You were right, I-" Rodney skidded to a rather abrupt halt in the middle of the gym, eyes widening at the sight of Teyla on top of John. "Heh, um." Suddenly finding interest in the ceiling, he waved his hand vaguely. "I was hoping to speak to you about something. It's kind of good that Teyla's here too, I can come back later though if-"

"No." Teyla shot through Rodney's words, her voice as sharp as a blade. "I was just leaving." When Rodney looked back to them both, Teyla was already stood up, arranging her things. Looking only to Rodney, she added. "I have some things to do, with Lieutenant Ford. You know how to contact us if you need us." Without another word then, she stalked out of the gym.

Rodney let out a low whistle through his teeth before approaching the sitting Major. "You wanna tell me-"

"No." John muttered back, before rolling his eyes and clambering up. "It's just, well I dunno. Me and Teyla, well we're close, recently though-but, well, her and Ford."

Rodney rather obviously cleared his throat to cut through John's ramblings, before gesturing to a nearby bench. "Perhaps I can tell you something to take your mind of women, well one at least." Lounging back on the bench himself, he then hinted immediately by adding. "You at least Major, don't have a rainbow alien trying to mate with you."

John's eyes widened sharply, hands smacking together. "I knew it!" He cried, gesturing to him. "What'd I tell you? But would you believe me? No!" He was too fuelled now to sit down, pacing back and forth in front of Rodney.

"Okay, fine, you were right!" Rodney exclaimed back to him, his own hands flying up in the air. "But what are we going to do? She was definitely… intent on doing things with me. I don't want to have some alien being doing things with me." The last bit was almost a whine, causing John to stop his pacing.

"Right." John murmured, tapping his chin. "We've got to formulate a plan, but not make it too obvious. If Elizabeth sees us meeting, she'll think something's up." As Rodney nodded in agreement with that, John hmmed softly. "Of course… maybe we don't have to worry about her noticing."

Rodney's eyebrows raised, eyes suddenly widening as John turned to look at him with a beaming smile. Rising quickly, he began to back away from John. "No!" He protested quickly.

"What? I haven't even said anything yet."

"No, I don't care what it is, I'm not doing it. Nope, no way, not in a million-" Catching John's look, he slumped against the wall. Covering his eyes with the palm of his hand, he muttered. "Fine, what is it?"

"Well…." John drawled out, that smile still upon his features. "She's intent on spending time with you right? So, why don't we let her do that?"

"Did I not just say that I don't want some alien being mating with me?!" Rodney exclaimed back to him, eyes wide. "Not to mention Elizabeth stuck inside somewhere."

"McKay!" John shouted back, bracing his hands on the Doctor's shoulders. "Listen, for once in your damn life. Look, I'll get Grodin to rig up a small device, so that we can hear what's going on, and you can talk to us if you need too. We can't run the risk of her discovering us McKay."

Rodney still looked sceptical, his eyes narrowed as he waited for the reason that would make him agree.

Sighing obviously, John went for the obvious solution. "McKay, you said yourself, Elizabeth is stuck inside her somewhere. We've gotta get her out. Besides…" Here he smirked a little. "The woman wants you. And when a woman wants you, there's nowhere you can hide."

"Do you think perhaps you could refrain from making this sound any scarier then it already is?" Rodney muttered back to him, staring down at his hands. It was a big decision. Of course he'd kissed Elizabeth, he couldn't have resisted even if a Wraith was coming towards him. But he had to keep reminding himself that this wasn't Elizabeth, that it was some weird alien being that essentially wanted to use him to turn her into some kind of breeding ground. The involuntary shudder caused him to slip out of his inner monologue, and he glanced up to the peering gaze of John. The Major's eyes held an obvious question, and it was one he knew he couldn't refuse. For some strange reason, the alien had made Elizabeth want him, and it was up to him to help get her out. It was perhaps just a rather bad coincidence that he also happened to be extremely attracted to her as well.

"Fine." Rodney snapped back to John, rising up from the bench. Turning to point a finger at him then, he added. "But you better get that earpiece rigged up pretty damn fast, she's very… needy." Biting his lip for a moment, he then asked. "Do you have any, um, advice possibly? About how to stall her?"

Shrugging helplessly, John replied. "Sorry, never dealt that much with inhabited women before. You're on your own I'm afraid, you'll have to think on your own two feet, or eh, front, as the case may be."

Rodney just shot John a glare at that, stalking out and ignoring the sound of the Major's snickering behind him.

------

Teyla tapped her foot impatiently as she stood outside Ford's quarters, arms folded, her eyes heralding the look of a woman perhaps not yet scorned, but certainly along the road to anger. It wasn't with the best approach that Ford came then, whistling jauntily.

"Teyla!" He shouted with a light grin, moving over to her. "Ready for the session?"

Teyla shot him a glare, before gesturing to his room. "Let us get this over and done with. There are more important matters to be taken care of."

As young as he was, Ford knew the signs of an angry woman, and quickly shot into his quarters, gesturing for Teyla to follow. Pausing for a moment, he then hazarded. "Eh, you do remember that this was _your_ idea in the first place right? I'd never even thought about it before."

Teyla allowed her gaze to soften as she settled on the floor, a light sigh passing her lips. "Yes, I know." She murmured. "Now I wonder if perhaps it is too much effort. I get the feeling that he will see it as something as trivial as he sees many other things in his life." Teyla's tone was unmistakeable, and Ford settled down in front of her, gently placing his hand on her knee.

"Teyla, you've gotta trust the Major. He, well, there's just some things he's not too good at handling. Women being one of them. As much as he likes to think that he's good with them as he is with everything else."

"Are all Earth men as such?" Teyla suddenly asked, eyes curious.

Ford hesitated at this. The reputation of his fellow mankind was at stake. However he found it hard to lie to Teyla, so he simply replied. "Some, yes. Women can be hard to understand at times-but only because they're so much more unique then us." He added the last bit quickly, before laughing. "Anyway, this is getting kinda serious. How about we continue the project?"

Teyla nodded to that, gesturing to the nearby table. "How far along is it? I have never seen one myself, so I do not know the construction, or the colours, however." From her pocket, she produced a large pack of small pieces of wood. "I managed to get these from the colony, the children were most happy to aid in the cutting, oh and the collection of dyes." Another small pack was produced, before she chuckled softly. "They are quite interested in taking lessons themselves Lieutenant, perhaps in the future you would be willing to set up a small class?"

Ford paused at that, before allowing a soft shrug. "Sure, why not? Lets just stick with you for now though. The glue was a little tricky to find, but you'd be surprised at what supplies we brought along." Rising then, he pulled a cloth of the nearby table, straightening out a diagram upon it. "You probably don't understand much of it, but it was pretty standard stuff in high school. Anyway, I want you to make the base, and I'll start assembling the wheel."

Nodding to that, Teyla began to separate out the wood. Stopping for a short moment, she then smiled warmly to him. "Thank you for this Lieutenant, it is quite sweet of you."

Blushing obviously, Ford just shook his head. "Think nothing of it. Besides, it's not that hard. The Major's probably forgotten all about his birthday."

Chuckling to that, Teyla began her work.

------

"So she is an alien being then?"

"Yup." John replied, before laughing again. "Apparently she's being really 'needy'."

Beckett and Grodin erupted into another bout of laughter, before Beckett replied. "Aye, she'd need ta be goin' afta Rodney n'all."

This time all three of them erupted into laughter, oblivious to the approaching form of Rodney.

"You're telling me!" Grodin chuckled back. "I mean, it would take an alien being to reside inside Elizabeth to even make her think ab-ow, what was that for?" Grodin frowned at Beckett as the doctor slowly back stepped. Blinking at his wild gesturing, he then turned, promptly shutting up as he spotted the glare from Rodney.

John just stood next to Rodney, head shaking towards the two. "I don't know, what were you guys thinking? Here we have Rodney, master of alien seduction, and you're making fun of him! Why, he deserves respect!"

"I deserve you all to work your hardest and get me that damned earpiece!" Rodney shouted, trying to ignore the obvious snickering from the other three guys. "Look, she'll probably be coming to find me any minute, and you want me to keep her contained right? So I need that earpiece, in case I get in trouble."

"Uh, just a question here but…" Beckett glanced around the small group, before asking with a cringe. "Do we havta listen ta _everything_ Rodney does? 'Cos a think a maybe too young ta listen to such things. Not ta mention I like ma sanity."

"Oh grow up." Rodney snapped back, before adding. "Besides, it won't be getting any further then, well it certainly won't, I mean." Blushing as he looked between the other guys, he finally muttered. "We won't be going that far."

"Um, just in case you do though." John replied, having suddenly realised that himself. "Make sure it's got a volume thing on it Grodin."

As Grodin and Beckett moved off to confer, Rodney sent John a pleading look. "Do I really have to do this?"

"McKay, are you a man or a mouse?"

"Right now I'd settle for anything that rainbow beings don't find attractive."

Chuckling a little at that, John gave a quick glance around, before nudging McKay. "Hey, have you actually taken the time to think about all this? I mean, think about why she chose you?"

"I haven't really thought about it at all." Rodney lied, avoiding John's gaze. "Anyway, she's got an alien being inside her, what kind of sense could there possibly be?"

"Maybe a lot more then you think." Glancing round again, John then murmured. "Look McKay, even before this alien thing appeared, it was pretty damn obvious that there was some sort of 'connection' between you and Elizabeth. Maybe that's what the alien picked up on?"

"What, you're saying that the alien somehow sensed attraction between me and Elizabeth, presuming there actually is any, and that's why it went for her?"

Shrugging to that, John replied. "Hell if I know, it's just a theory. But it could be the right one. All I'm saying is, if there's less resistance on Elizabeth's part, there may be a chance that she's being controlled less."

Thinking that over in his mind, a light smile began to form on Rodney's features. "Y'know Major, you can be exceptionally clever sometimes. If what you think is right, then it may be possible to get through to Elizabeth-but it would have to be at a time when the alien is at it's weakest."

"Earpiece ready." Grodin strode over with a grin, passing it over to Rodney. Glancing down to it, Rodney blinked, before asking. "Um, even though I should probably know this, how exactly do you operate it?" Turning it over in the light, he added. "It looks kind of Atlantian."

"Well you'd be right." Grodin replied, resting back against the console. "It's one of the newer inventions that we found around Atlantis. We haven't been able to interface it with our own technology, and as good as ours is, even at its smallest, they're still pretty visible. Especially if, um, 'things' were to happen." Quickly glossing over that possible event, as each male barring Rodney produced his own sort of grimace, Grodin continued his explanation. "It's pretty much gel, and it actually interfaces with the inside of your ear. It's impossible to see unless you were actually looking for it, and it intercepts sound waves a lot more efficiently then our own technology does. We'll be able to hear everything crystal clear." Glancing around the others, he added reassuringly. "Only if we want too."

Frowning down at the gel, Rodney gave a light shrug, before popping it into it's ear. A small blue glow showed the interface had occurred, and John curiously peered into his ear.

"Wow." He blinked, before glancing to the others. "You're right, you wouldn't even notice it unless you were actually looking for it. It's amazing. How many of these did you find?"

"Only a few." Grodin sighed, before smiling. "But maybe we'll be able to make more. We'll know after this initial test."

"Initial test?!" Rodney's eyes suddenly widened. "You're saying I'm your guinea pig for this thing?"

"Well, yes, frankly we couldn't have asked for a better situation." Grodin grinned to him, before nudging him along. "Now hadn't you better be going along to meet your blushing alien girlfriend?"

"I, uh, yes, I guess so." Rodney muttered, sending a pleading look to all three males.

"Rodney, it's okay, we'll be right here." Beckett reassured his friend, unable to hide his grin though. "Able to hear everything, and I'll be seeing if there's anything in the database to help us along."

Nodding along to that, John grinned. "Yeah, don't worry, we'll have everything you've been working on up here, and we'll be working as much as we can. All you have to do, is stall her."

"That's easy for you to say!" Rodney shouted back, as Grodin continued to nudge him out of the door. "You haven't got an alien-inhabited girl trying to do stuff with you!" With a final push, Rodney was out of the door, and Grodin just rolled his eyes.

"Finally." He muttered, before striding back. "Okay, let's see what we can find in the database."

------

Okay, calm down Rodney. You're just on a secret mission to make sure you don't end up doing anything with Elizabeth. Wait, no, not Elizabeth, rainbow-alien thing in Elizabeth, but it's still technically Elizabeth…

"Damnit." Rodney muttered, turning the corner and bumping into. "Eliz-uh, Jane, hi." He gulped back Elizabeth's name, hoping fervently that she hadn't noticed. What the hell was he supposed to say to her anyway? I'm on a mission to keep Elizabeth occupied, but I'll be out in time for supper honey?

Jane just smiled to him though, in that placid, emotionless way that she so often did. "Hi Rodney, what're you up too? You look like you're in a hurry."

Now there was an understatement. "Um, well, y'see." Glancing around nervously, Rodney finally gave in and whispered to her. "I'm on a top-secret mission, and really, I shouldn't be discussing it out here, don't know who's listening and all of that."

"Yes, right, um… look, you haven't seen Carson around have you?" Jane asked out of the blue, ignoring Rodney's nervousness completely. "There was something I was hoping to speak with him about; patients, and other things."

Surprised at the ease with which he'd escaped questioning, Rodney just nodded. "Sure, he's in the Control Room. You'll find out what I'm doing there-oh, wait, look, I better go." He added the last bit hurriedly, as he saw Elizabeth rounding the corner ahead of him. Not even waiting for a reply from Jane, he dodged past her, running down the corridor and taking hold of Elizabeth's arm.

"Elizabeth!" He smiled warmly to her. "Just the woman I was hoping to see, you wouldn't have a lot of spare time would you?"

"As much as you want…" Elizabeth purred back to him, gently pulling herself closer.

"Um, yes, right, yes, well, y'see…" Rodney sputtered, taking hold of her arm a little more strongly, dragging her back the way she'd came. "There's some things I'd like to _talk_ to you about, in my quarters? If that'd be okay?"

Quarters? Elizabeth's eyes widened, a flirtatious smile sliding on to her lips. "Of course Rodney, you're obviously so eager, so lets go there and 'talk'."

The door to his quarters came too fast for Rodney, but even so, he propelled himself and Elizabeth inside, not noticing the slam of the door behind him. Elizabeth stumbled back for a moment, before she grinned to him, striding forward and wrapping herself around his frame.

"Rodney…" She murmured softly, leaning up towards him. "Time to finish what we started before?"

"Before? What before?" Rodney wildly stuttered back, trying to balance his excitement with the raging war in his own head.

"You know." Elizabeth murmured softly, right into his ear. "When you kissed me so passionately in the lab."

Forcefully, Rodney yanked her away from his ear, hands squaring on her shoulders. "Elizabeth! Stop this, I need to talk to you."

"Well you didn't want to talk before did you Rodney?" Elizabeth replied, her gaze narrowing now. "I know you Rodney, deep down, you've never wanted to talk, deep down you've wanted to-"

"STOP this!" Rodney shouted, shaking her. "You're not Elizabeth! I know you're not! Why did you have to take her and do this to her?!"

------

'You know. When you kissed me so passionately in the lab.'

The murmur was like a shout within the Control Room, but all eyes weren't on the console, they were on the figure of Jane as the Psychiatrist just stared and listened. Being the closest too her out of the group, Carson stepped forward, voice soft. "Jane, it's not him, he's been-"

"It's okay." Jane replied, surprisingly unemotional. "This must be the secret mission he was speaking about. Obviously he's doing this for Elizabeth, who he cares about."

The ensuing silence was broken only by the sounds of Jane's heels on the floor as she approached the console, standing next to Carson. Sending him a light smile, she nodded. "Perhaps I can help."

Carson frowned softly, hands hesitantly hovering above hers. "Are ya-I mean, if ya need anything-"

"Carson." Jane replied tenderly, squeezing his hand gently. "I'm fine. Now, please, I wouldn't want Rodney to get hurt."

'STOP this!"

The shout echoed around the Control Room, and the group turned as one to look at the console.

'You're not Elizabeth! I know you're not! Why did you have to take her and do this to her?!'

"Oh God." John murmured, leaning in and saying to Rodney. "Rodney! No! Don't do this, it might hurt Elizabeth."

The non-response just caused his frustration to grow, and he shouted this time. "Rodney! Back down!"

------

He could hear John shouting in his head. Grodin had been right about one thing, the earpiece was better then any of theirs. All Elizabeth saw was Rodney looking thoughtful, the sound from John just went directly into his head.

Finally, Elizabeth was the one to reply, easily slipping from Rodney's grasp. Her voice was slow, and deliberate as she asked. "Rodney, what do you mean?" Gaze narrowing, she added. "Has John turned you too?"

Ignoring John's cries in his head, Rodney stepped forward to meet her. "Elizabeth, or whatever your real name is, I know you've inhabited her, but… but I care about Elizabeth, and I don't want you to hurt her. Plus…" Head bowing, he murmured softly. "I do have feelings for her, so-so I want to help you, I want to be with her in that way and…" Sighing, his gaze lifted to meet hers. "I know normally, without you in her, I would never get that chance. So I want to take this chance now, I want to be with Elizabeth, and I want to help you."

Elizabeth's eyes narrowed at this. This was most, unusual. Never before had it been discovered, and aided at the same time. The hunger was too strong now to deny such an amazing offer, and so Elizabeth stepped forward, arms wide as she was ready to have him take her.

"No!" Rodney suddenly shouted. "Wait! I need to do this right, for Elizabeth, for any fleck of her that still resides within her head. Plus, well plus you'll need my help, with our customs, if you really want to succeed here, so…" Biting his lip, he held out a hand. "Will you go on a date with me?"

------

John couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Oh McKay…" He muttered, hand covering his eyes. "What have you done?"

"Possibly something very clever." Grodin mused, before explaining. "He's stalling for time, just like you wanted him too. He is right, when the alien eventually leaves Elizabeth, and inhabits someone else, it would need to know about our customs to succeed. It knows we're not the Ancients, and it knows it needs help."

"Well, right now Rodney needs some help." John sighed, trudging over to Grodin's station. "So, have you found anything useful?"

"Uh, that's the bad news Major." Grodin replied, a deep frown on his features. "I've searched through the entire database, with the planet's coordinates, the planet's designation… and there's absolutely nothing."

"Nothing?!" John cried, bracing his hands on the desk. "The database is massive, you spend entire dinnertimes boasting that fact! How can it not have the planet within there?"

"Perhaps the Ancients were embarrassed." Jane suggested, gesturing to the database. "It is common for people to hide their mistakes, in the hopes that the subject will not be brought up again."

"We're talking about the Ancients here." John snapped back to her. "They built the Stargate, they're not your average test-subject-human."

"She was only trying ta help Major." Carson snapped back to him.

Rolling his eyes in frustration, John smacked the console. "Well, what the hell are we going to do then?"

"We could try thinking for ourselves without the aid of the Ancestors, John." Teyla's calm voice suddenly supplied as she entered the Control Room with Ford. "Dr. Heightmeyer may be correct. We are descended from the Ancestors, and they were not always as great as their technology professes now. It could be assumed that they were embarrassed as well."

"Well, embarrassed or not." John muttered, brushing a hand through his hair. "We have no mention from the database, we've got Rodney stuck with Elizabeth, having just struck a rather dodgy bargain with the alien inside her and… oh yes, I forgot, a broken canister that even Rodney couldn't figure out."

Chuckling a touch, Ford quipped. "Sounds like a regular day here on Atlantis."


	7. The Date

**Woo, new update! I'm as pleased as you all are believe me, felt good to get this out of my head. Got a few more chapters to go, the next one of which shouldn't take too long to come along, it's certainly going to be the one with all the action, so I'll post it up as soon as I can. Hope you're all enjoying it so far and thanks for the reviews, good to know people are actually enjoying this.**

"A.. date?" Elizabeth repeated, her eyes carefully studying Rodney's features. The word was tossed through her mind, searching for some kind of meaning within Elizabeth's memory. The idea that it was some kind of fruit seemed absurd, so she chose the second meaning that arose.

"A… meeting, often a dinner, where romance can arise."

Rodney licked his lips as Elizabeth voiced her understanding. A date. With Elizabeth. But then not really Elizabeth at all. He could still hear John muttering in his ear, and it was all he could do not to put his hand over it.

Elizabeth mused for another few moments, her slender fingers tapping her side. It was a movement that made Rodney smile despite himself. Even with this alien thing inside of her, she still had some of her old movements. He could find it so easy to forget that she wasn't Elizabeth at all. And it was that thought that caused his smile to disappear, and his posture to straighten. He couldn't forget that, not ever, not until Elizabeth was free from this weird being.

"Yes." Elizabeth finally replied, moving forward and gently touching his arm. "I will go on a date with you Rodney."

Rodney tried his best to ignore the flip of his heart, grimacing instead as he nodded. "Right. Well perhaps we should go then?" He held out his arm for her, watching her expectantly.

There was a pause though, and Elizabeth frowned. There was no head tilting to show she was thinking, but he could tell as her lips silently mouthed words. "Should I not, change, first? There are images of what this experience should be like." A slight grimace passed her own features as she nodded towards herself. "It does not seem to include what I am wearing."

Damnit, she was going to make this harder for him. "Uh, right." Rodney muttered, drawing his arm back to his side. "Well I wasn't sure if you had anything that's all."

A smile this time, one that Rodney would swear had a slight mischievousness to it. And again he tried to hide the little lurch in the pit of his stomach, even hoping he could blame it on a hypoglycaemic reaction and somehow get out of all of this mess.

"Of course I do Rodney." Elizabeth replied smoothly, patting his hand. "I'll only be a few moments."

Recognising the sign of a women about to take a while getting dressed, he headed out of the quarters, calling back. "I'll go and get ready myself!" Before heading down the corridor.

'_Okay then McKay, what exactly is the plan now?'_

Sighing, Rodney rolled his eyes, realised John couldn't see him, and muttered back. "Really, I'm not too sure. I'm kind of, making it up as I go along. She's gone to get ready."

'_That should by us a few hours at least-ow, hey, I was only kidding Teyla!'_

Rodney snickered at that, stepping into his quarters and heading over to his small cupboard of stuff. As geeky as he may be, like his fellow male companions on Atlantis, the wild array of scattered clothes was something even he couldn't get out of arranging. Besides, just looking at the heap of garments was enough to bring a misty tear to his eyes sometimes. Home for him was always where he flung his clothes down.

Finding himself muttering about the lack of an iron he rummaged around and retrieved a shirt that didn't look overly crumpled. The fact that it had an embossed Star Trek communicator on it did nothing to reveal his slowly rising sense of dread. For a brief moment he pondered changing into his 'lucky' boxers, and then mentally smacked himself for it. The rising apprehension was something he knew all too well, and one he knew had nothing to do with an alien being inside Elizabeth. It was the butterfly feeling he always got when he was going on a date, as rare as those occurrences actually were, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Trousers." He murmured, looking around the pile. "Some nice trousers."

------

"Is it just me, or did McKay just mutter something about an iron?" Everyone glanced to John, giving their own variable shrugs while he himself turned the volume down a touch. "I think for now we can leave it down a bit, I'm sure if he needs us he'll shout." Frowning a touch, he glanced over to Grodin. "Anything yet?"

Grodin blinked back up to him, continuing his idle tapping even as he replied. "I've already told you Major. There is nothing in the database at all. Perhaps Dr. Heightmeyer was right. It may have been something they just wanted to forget about quickly."

"No, it doesn't feel right." John shook his head to them, gesturing around the control room. "That's not what they were like. They must've left some sort of clue, some sort of warning on how to help. I mean somehow, that canister was made, and left on that planet."

"Well, what exactly have you tried?" Ford suddenly asked, striding over to the console and leaning over.

Shooting him a look, and rather obviously covering the console, Grodin replied. "Everything. The planet's coordinates, the alien encounter database, the planet database, history of less then nice encounters…"

"Less then nice?" Ford blinked back to him.

"Roughly translated." Grodin shrugged, before gesturing to the console. "There is absolutely nothing more that could be linked to it."

"This may be amazingly stupid but… have you actually tried typing in 'rainbow alien'?"

"You're right!" Grodin suddenly cried.

"I am?"

"Yes… that is amazingly stupid."

Rolling his eyes, Ford tried to shift him out of the way. "Look, come on. It might actually work! Let me type it in…"

"You don't even know what the translation would be, or how to operate the search function."

"Then perhaps you should do it for him?" Teyla asked, sending Ford a light smile. "If we all agree that Dr. Heightmeyer's theory is correct, then is it not a good thought that perhaps in order to stop people going back, the planets existence should not be taken from the database, but rather hidden?"

"You don't get it Teyla." Grodin snapped back, pushing back from the console. "The Ancients were highly sophisticated, I don't even think they have an equivalent word for 'rainbow'. I doubt very much that they'll have an entry with that in."

"Grodin!" John snapped back out of his own private thoughts. "I don't care how amazingly stupid it sounds, just try it. We're running out of options. McKay isn't here to save the day like, I hate to admit, he actually does quite often, so we need to do all we can."

"Fine, fine." Grodin sighed back, bringing up the search function. "But I'll need McKay's notes on the alien language. We've pretty much translated all the commands for the consoles into English, but since we have little use for the word rainbow… I'm gonna need those notes."

"Right." John nodded, before gesturing to Carson. "Beckett, go and get those notes. Oh, and tell Zelenka to get down to Rodney's lab with the Team A scientists, or whatever the hell they call themselves these days. We need to find out what that canister's about."

"I'll go with him." Jane replied quietly, before heading out with Beckett. The rest of them watched her go, everyone's thoughts obviously focusing on how this was all going to end, before they turned back to the console as one.

"I guess now we wait." Ford mused with a light grin.

"I hate waiting." John muttered back.

------

"At least he keeps his lab relatively tidy." Carson chuckled as he rifled through one of the drawers, before pulling out a booklet. "Ah, this should be it."

"Carson?" Jane said softly, stepping up to him. "I'm kind of glad we're alone. There is something I need to speak with you about."

"Sure lass." Carson replied with a grin, hugging the booklet close to him as he watched her curiously. "Ah, ya worried about Rodney?"

"Well, yes, I guess you could say that." Jane replied quietly, before biting her lip.

Carson's eyebrows rose, curious now as he'd never seen Jane seem this nervous before. "Are ya allright? Ya know, ya don't need ta worry. Rodney'll be fine. He always pulls through stuff like this. He's kinda like a lucky mouse or summit that's managed to hole up behind the fridge and survive for weeks on end with biscuits."

Chuckling at that, Jane glanced back to him. "Yes, well. Y'see, it's not actually this I'm worried about, it's something else. Rodney can be quite… highly strung at times can't he?"

"A bit of an understatement, but aye."

"Well, there is something I'd like to speak with him about, and I'm afraid of how he will react. But really I'd like to discuss it with you first."

"Me? Well, if you want. I've never been that good at the whole listening thing outside of bein an actual doctor, but I'll do ma best."

"Yes, well, that's the thing really." Jane suddenly smiled up to him. "This does really involve you."

"Because I'm Rodney's friend?"

"That's certainly part of it yes, certainly part of why it could be difficult, and why I need to know things first."

Carson just blinked at that, obviously confused by the direction of this conversation. "I don't mean ta be brash, but do ya think ya could get to the point?"

"I'm trying too." Jane sighed, brushing a hand through her hair. "I'm normally so cool and calm, even with Rodney, but when I try and explain something to you..."

"And here is ze great lab of Rodney the saviour of Atlantis, currently on a zecret mission to go boldly where many men have wanted to go before-ah, Doctor. I was just showing ze Enterprise team around Rodney's lab."

"I, uh." Turning away from Jane for the moment, Carson blinked. "I thought they came in here often?"

"Are you kidding?" One of the scientists peeked around from behind Zelenka. "Rodney hates it when we get in his way! We only ever come in here when we're specifically ordered too, or when we're doing small projects."

"Right, yes, well." Carson gulped, before gesturing around. "The lab's all yours till he gets back. Major Sheppard wants the canister figured out as quickly as possible, now me and the doctor gotta get back to the control room." Grabbing hold of Jane's arm, he pulled her out of the Control room, ignoring the looks from the team. Then without another word, he started striding back to the Control Room.

Trying her best to keep up in her high heels, Jane sighed. "Look, Carson, I need to tell you-"

Suddenly Carson wheeled round, causing Jane to walk straight into him. Oblivious, Carson frowned. "Jane, I can't do this now. I may be dumb, but I can already guess, and I dunna wanna talk about it now okay? Ya need to tell Rodney what ya think before ya even involve me in this. Be sure anyway. Sometimes ya get false alarms."

"False… alarms?" Jane blinked then, before suddenly shaking her head. "What? No! Carson, I'm, I'm not pregnant. Me and Rodney haven't even… I mean there were times of course but, I just… no Carson, I like you…"

"Oh God." Carson blinked back to her, feverishly waving his arms at her. "Don't ya dare, don't ya dare say what I think you're gonna say. Rodney's ma friend, ma best friend on here even. And as nice as a lass that I think ya are, he is, an' nothing can change that. Even…" His voice trailed off, and he watched her, wishing that her eyes didn't have such sadness in them. Guilt was already rising, moreso because of what he could feel himself saying next. "I canna deal with this right now. We gotta help Rodney. Afterwards, mebbe…"

"No, forget it." Jane snapped back, icy as normal now. "We need to get this back to the Control Room, and help Rodney. It'll be nice to get things back to normal."

"Right…" Carson trailed off, before moving back to the Control Room.

------

Rodney surveyed himself in the mirror. The shirt was as straight as it was ever going to be after he'd laid on it for five minutes, and the communicator was certainly geeky enough that it might put her off. He'd ignored the nagging feeling that he should look good as much as he could, but it had been enough to force him not to sabotage the outfit fully. Crumpled trousers were the best ones he had, and even though his normal boots were the best ones he could manage he had to admit that he didn't look too bad. Or good, for that matter. For a moment he pondered getting her a gift, but decided that he probably didn't have anything she didn't already have. Sighing, he headed out of his quarters, surprised at the lack of people around him.

A thought flicked through his mind, and he whispered. "John, are you there?"

'_We are always with you Rodney, always…'_

"Oh, ha-ha." Rodney snapped back, before whispering. "I can't but help notice the rather significant lack of people around the corridors."

'_Well would you believe it? Everyone suddenly got really tired. Just for a point of reference as well, the balcony nearest the Control Room is free, with a rather handy table and food set up.'_

"My, how convenient." Rodney muttered bitterly, before lowering his voice once more. "Is there a plan of action at the moment? Like maybe as soon as I get her to the balcony some kind of device will be handy to easily remove the alien from her?"

'_Sorry Rodders, no can do. We're still trying to figure out how exactly to type in 'rainbow alien' into the database.'_

"Rainbow alien?" Rodney blinked, before suddenly snapping. "Oh, a point of reference for you too Major. Don't ever call me Rodders."

'_Can do. We'll keep you updated as much as we can McKay, so don't worry too much.'_

"Yeah, that's easy for you to say." Rodney sighed to himself, before stopping outside Elizabeth's quarters. It'd been half an hour, she might not be ready yet after all, maybe he should walk around for an hour and come back? Even better, she might forget, decide Atlantis wasn't even good enough for her, the alien being would leave, Elizabeth would wake and know nothing… Turning back around he froze as he heard the doors open. Coincidence, or maybe she'd heard him outside, even worse, what if she'd heard him talking to himself?

"Rodney…"

The tone of delivery was perfect. Just sultry enough to make his knees wobble, and welcoming enough to make his body turn around of its own accord. By the time his brain had caught up, it immediately shut down again at the sight of her. Half an hour it'd taken him, to put on a crumpled geeky shirt, dirty trousers, boots, and not even run a comb through his hair. And she was… well, Goddess immediately sprang to mind. One black shoulder strap of silk travelled down and across her chest, silver thread trailing down it, while a simple belt cinched her waist and allowed a long blousing skirt to hit the floor. A slash like that on anyone else would've seemed tame, but it'd already thrust open Rodney's mouth before he could think of uttering a word. It was simple, and elegant, and showed off absolutely nothing in a tasteful way. But it did so so well, that you knew exactly what it was hiding. It was like the proverbial pink elephant. The dress said 'don't think about what I'm hiding', and damned if he wasn't giving into it. And her hair! Elizabeth had short hair, he was sure of it, but it seemed so full of life as it curled around her features, and a simple silver necklace looped around that slim neck..

"I've gotta stop this." Rodney sputtered out before he could stop himself. Elizabeth just tilted her head, stepping forward smoothly and offering him her hand. "Stop already?" She asked, eyes locking with his. "But think of all the fun we haven't had yet?"

"Oh believe me, I am, eh not, trying not too… heh."

"Where are we going then?" Elizabeth asked as she let Rodney pull her arm through his. "Somewhere quiet I hope, and free from distractions?"

"Eh, yes, definitely, certainly." Rodney's brain muddled through as many definite words as it could find. Normally he could find so many, but at each one his brain would stop to try and process the attempt to not think about Elizabeth so close to him doing… nothing. His legs automatically led them both to the door of the nearby balcony, mouth soon joining in as he gestured out. "The night I think was something of lucky timing but I hope you like the dinner it's, um…"

'_Chicken'._

"Chicken?" Rodney squeaked in surprise. "Yes, I did sort of wonder how we managed to get chicken… I think it must be chicken?"

'_The Athosians description is close enough to presume it is. Stop asking questions anyway, we've got work to do.'_

"Right, so sit down and enjoy your 'chicken'." Rodney muttered, moving to pull back Elizabeth's seat for her. All his reserves of gentlemanly instructions rose forth and he glanced to the table. "Don't forget the napkin and I'll serve you a little wine." Wine, how could they give them wine? This was bad enough!

'_Relax McKay, another gift from the Athosians. It's grape juice, or eh, the equivalent. Now just enjoy yourself like we all know you really want too.'_

Blinking at John's reply, he glanced then to Elizabeth when she placed her hand on his. "Are you allright? You seem a little nervous, as if you're thinking about something."

"Uh, yes, I was just thinking what a beautiful night, and chance, this is." Rodney quickly replied, moving to pour the 'grape juice', before slipping into his own seat. This was so strange. Normal dates he'd already be trying to get as close as possible, now he had to do the opposite, but not so much that she got suspicious, certainly since he'd already pretty much said how much he wanted Elizabeth…

"You're thinking again." Elizabeth interjected his thoughts softly, her smile warm. Pausing then, she asked. "Shouldn't we light the candles?"

"Oh, of course." Rodney leant over, trying to ignore his own thoughts. Candlelight, even more stupid! Of course they couldn't really see their food otherwise but the way it flickered off her features was like eternal torment. In fact he knew it would be, there each time he closed his eyes, or went to sleep.

"Chicken." He suddenly blurted out, gesturing to the plate when Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "We should eat, we'll need lots of energy for…um." A gulp passed before he mumbled. "Later."

------

"Ya found it yet?" Carson nudged Grodin, looking more agitated then when he'd left the Room.

"Close enough I think. They don't have a word for rainbow, it's more like… 'all the colours of light'. 'Colerspectrisum' is as close as I can fathom."

"I think I prefer rainbow." Ford replied with a grin, before gesturing to the console. "So, does it work?"

"Be patient, it needs a few moments to go through the database. By comparison, the fastest computer on Earth would take months to go through it."

"Lets be glad that we're not on Earth then." John chuckled, eagerly watching the console as the others did.

"Forgetting the fact of course that we wouldn't have this mess if we were not on Earth?" Teyla replied back to the group, then joining the others as they turned back to the console.

"That's a good 'beep' right?" John asked, leaning over.

Grodin grinned, pointing to the screen. "It most certainly is Major. I believe Lieutenant Ford must be congratulated, obviously the Ancients realised that if they wanted to stop any of their kind from bringing up the information again, they should make the search term as simple as possible."

"And it took someone with as simple as mind as Ford here to even think of that." John grinned to Ford, patting him on the back.

"Uh, thank you sir." Came Ford's hesitant reply, before he too leaned over. "Anyway, what does it say?"

"It seems to be Teyla's basic story, but of course a little more factual. Ah… the end, okay then;

'With the planet in turmoil, and filled by the 'rainbow' beings, only one woman survived. A scientist, she had returned to the planet days earlier from a research mission, and been set upon almost immediately by one of the beings. Knowing that unlike the men she would survive until her pregnancy was over, the months allowed her to work on some way of securing the planet forever. Those who had been before left work, and remembering earlier experiments with ascended beings, she devised a shield generator that would in fact'-oh, wow, this is ingenious."

"What?" John blinked, glancing to Grodin, and then back at the screen.

"Well, it makes so much sense! I don't see why we didn't think of it before, listen;

'-devised a shield generator that would in fact feed and enshield the beings at the same time. Knowing that at this primal level the beings hungered for basic things, she created three layers. When energy from one was drained by the beings, they would travel to the next one in their hunger, allowing the previous one to regain power once more. As the beings fed on the shield, they would never leave unless they sensed a greater supply outside of it. That is why the gate address of this planet must be eradicated from the history of the database, known only to those who would ensure its secrets are kept, and the keyword so obscure, that the cleverest may never find it."

"That does sound ingenious, but what about the canister?"

Grodin's gaze tracked down the page, before he shrugged. "It doesn't say, it just mentions the shield. I'm guessing the information must've been gained from a last transmission by the scientist, before she died, or maybe even before she could build the canister."

"Then we better get Zelenka and the team that information." John muttered, gesturing to Ford. "Come on, lets head down there. At least we know now why the alien headed into Elizabeth, it obviously sensed that it could feed itself better off her then the shield."

"But…" Teyla went to reply, sighing as they left. Carson glanced to her, nodding. "I know what you're thinking Teyla, why did it choose Elizabeth and not Rodney or even you? It knew it was alone, it knew it only 'ad one chance, so it went for tha best one. For all we know, it can sense chemical changes in the air, like the kind when two people who're attracted to each other come together."

"Then it would seem our only chance of collecting the alien being again, would be in the hands of Dr. Mckay and Dr. Weir."

------

"More grape juice?" Rodney replied smoothly, not even waiting for a reply and pouring out another glassful for Elizabeth. He couldn't believe how wonderful this all was. His mind was a glorious haze, with the sound of the ocean gently ebbing away his sense of dread. And she was so beautiful. Just watching him, and listening to him. How long had he even talked? He couldn't remember. And she'd listened. Just like she always did.

Sitting watching her sip just reminded him of how lucky he was, how much he'd wanted this. And he couldn't believe he'd wanted this. Blondes, it was always blondes. They were the ones who had funk, or something similar. That's why this had to be it. That's why he knew he-he what?

"I want to do something for you." Rodney suddenly decided out loud, his quirky smile widening. "I want to give you something, something that I've never given to anybody."

"What's that Rodney?" Elizabeth asked quietly, her eyes tracking his movements curiously as he rose up from the table and held out his hand.

"I-I want to dance with you."

Elizabeth blinked at that. Taking his hand she rose, still watching him curiously though.

"I know, it doesn't seem so strange but..." Gingerly he pulled her closer, his hand settling on her slim waist. "But, you see... I wanted to be a pianist. When I was younger. But I was too clinical, no imagination, this was before, anyway..." He gulped a little as she pulled herself closer, just watching him. "I figured if I was going to be a pianist, then I might make it big in some club or other, or with a stageshow, and I should know dances." A strange blush rose to his cheeks, and he added. "It turned out I was quite good. Once my Father found out he put a stop to it, said it was girly and..." Biting his lip, he shook his head. "Anyway. Since then, I've never told anyone. I was too scared. Plus I suppose astrophysics never really called for dancing, and soon after my piano teacher told me I should find something else and-"

His babbling was interrupted as Elizabeth leant up and softly placed a kiss on his lips. It was so different from that time in the lab. Gentle, unprovoking, and yet somehow more powerful. It awoke him deep inside and he found himself kissing back just as gently. How could he be so lucky as to be kissing Elizabeth right now? With the ocean, and moonlight. It was like some sort of perfect date...

"No, wait.." Rodney pulled back abruptly, the haze suddenly being pierced by those thoughts. Of course, it was just what the alien wanted. Was this somehow Elizabeth's perfect date that the alien was creating? He looked into her eyes and for a moment thought he saw clarity, before she glazed over.

"Is something wrong?" She asked innocently, head tilting.

Rodney bit his lip, trying to ignore the way that the moonlight reflected off her skin. Candlelight, moonlight. Poetry certainly had a lot to answer for. Not that he cared for it much anyway, bunch of poncy know-it-alls who wore funny clothes and talked in their own language and probably spent most of their life around funny chemicals...

"Uh, no, no everything's fine. I just thought of how late it's getting. We should probably get back." He moved back from her, only to find that familiar strong grip upon his hand. Hiding the wince as best he could, he glanced back to her.

"Please, Rodney." Elizabeth murmured softly. "Just one dance. That's all I ask.

"I-uh." He couldn't refuse, he just knew he couldn't. "Fine, fine. Here." He pulled her close once more, pushing back the rising anxiety's and dreads in his mind. "But only one. Then I'll walk you back to your quarters."

------

"There is nothing more I can do!"

"Zelenka, there's gotta be something."

John smacked on the table, winced a little, and hid his hand behind his back. "Look, we're all as frustrated as you are, believe me. But McKay's doing his, uh, 'thing', so you're our only hope."

"And zere is nothing on Atlantis like this Major."

"Maybe because we didn't find it on Atlantis?"

John and Zelenka stared each other down for a moment, before John sighed and grabbed one of the parts of the canister. "It looks simple enough Zelenka, you're sure there's nothing you're missing?"

"It _is_ very simple Major, that's ze problem."

"Wait a minute." John gestured the metal towards the sheepish-looking 'Enterprise' team. "You're telling me, that it's too simple for you to work out?"

Zelenka looked uncomfortable for a moment, before nodding. "In a manner of speaking... yes. Whoever built this technology, was obviously trying to make it as low-tech, and simple as possible. Maybe to reduce on power."

"I can't believe this!" John cried, his gaze darting round. "We brought the best and brightest here. Now you're telling me you're _too _bright to figure this thing out? That's gotta be the stupidest thing ever." Taking a deep breath, he added. "Okay then, maybe I can figure this out."

Stalking away from the bench, he held the metal up to the light, twisting and turning it around. "Hmm, lightweight." He mumbled, idly tossing it in his hand. "Lightweight..." He repeated once more, his gaze following the continual rise and fall of the metal. "Maybe..." Stalking back to the bench, he grabbed the other pieces of the canister, assembling them haphazardly. Suddenly then he grabbed Zelenka's jacket, yanking him down to his level. "Tell me, you see that." He muttered, his gaze not wavering.

"Uh, see what?" Zelenka blinked, wriggling free from John's grasp.

Sighing, John pointed to the edge of the metal. "You're telling me you've never noticed how thick this metal is? It's a pretty thin canister, and it's got twice the width you'd expect on all the pieces, and yet, it's as light as a feather."

Zelenka studied the piece for a moment, before shrugging back to him. "Perhaps the metal itself is just very light? The Atlanteans were very good at such-hey, what do you think you are doing?!"

John pulled back the trigger of the gun, shooting off the edge of the piece. "I'm looking for what I think is gonna be-yup, thought so." Putting his gun back, he held up the piece for all to see.

"It's... hollow." Zelenka murmured, taking hold of the piece and looking through it. "No, wait, zere is something. I think I may be able to get it..." Taking hold of a nearby knife, he carefully extracted a set of wires. "They seem to run the length of the canister."

"They don't look like normal wires." John murmured as he glanced over Zelenka's shoulder.

"They're not." Zelenka replied, cutting open the wire and showing the exposed tissue within it. "In fact, zey may be nerves."

"Nerves?" John blinked, before recoiling. "As in, human nerves?"

"No, they're a lot different. They may be Wraith."

As one the whole team staggered back, even John eyeing it nervously. "What-the, well what the hell are they doing inside a damn canister?"

"I suggest we get Beckett down here immediately Major. I am no Doctor, but they look like they could be in a state of decay."

"Right, yeah..." He pulled out his radio, and called into it. "Teyla, tell Beckett to get down here as fast as he can. And tell him to bring surgical tools and a microscope."

"_Is someone hurt John?"_

"No, but this is definitely his department. So tell him to get his ass down here."

"_The Doctor just made a reference to you not taking your pants off Major. A suggestion that would seem most wise in the current situation."_

_------_

Beckett ran into the lab, Teyla, Ford and Jane not far behind, each one helping with the carrying. Beckett raised an eyebrow at the Enterprise team, who were rather obviously huddled into a corner, before moving over to the bench.

"What in the name of-are those nerve cells?"

"That's what I'd like you to tell us Doctor." John replied, the only one apart from Zelenka who had stayed close to them.

Cutting a small section off, Beckett placed it carefully underneath the microscope, adjusting the magnification. "Oh my." He murmured, adjusting it a little more, before sighing. "Aye, they are. I recognise them from the arm that we recovered before. The only question is, how did they get there."

"Well, we found them inside the canister." John shuddered a little as he glanced at the nerves. "By the looks of it, they were lining the inside of the canister's casing."

"Mighty ingenious then!" Beckett replied as he inspected the nerve. "It sounds like this researcher was cleverer then we thought. O'course it explains why the canister story itself wasn't in the database, the Ancients prolly thought it wouldn't look good, using Wraith remnants to escape a planet. At least it clears up how the canister works."

John glanced around the rest of the group, before clearing his throat. "Do you think, perhaps, you could enlighten the rest of us?"

"Oh, o'course." Carson smiled back, picking up the hollow piece. "We know that the alien being feeds from primal energy, quite like the Wraith do. But unlike the being we met that was held here, it's most attracted to energy from living organisms. Creating an enforced shield like the planet's would have been impossible with such a small container, and if free it might result in releasing it's own kind..."

"So she used Wraith cells instead? Why not just kill a rabbit or something?" Ford interjected with, wincing himself at Carson's explanation.

"Because..." Carson rolled his eyes before continuing. "Once the animal's life had been depleted, then the alien would inevitably start feeding on the ZPM, which in turn would quickly free it. The ZPM shield was simply a backup, should the canister ever become damaged, and to make sure that the open part of the canister was doubly protected. This way though, a continuous cycle would continue. The wraith nerve cells need life energy to work, the organism needs life energy to continue living."

"So..." Ford muddled through this all in his head, before concluding. "Once the alien being was inside, it would continue to take life energy from the wraith nerve cells, which in a way was really it's own that would be taken back into the cells themselves."

"Precisely." Beckett replied. "Which is why I suggest we fix the canister as quickly as possible, and put these nerves back. All we need to do is get the alien being out of Elizabeth, and into the canister once more, and the link should start again."

"There's only one problem, uh besides getting the alien out of Elizabeth." John glanced around the group. "How exactly, are we going to get it in? Atlantis has more then enough 'food supply' for this being, even if it does leave Elizabeth. Who's to say it won't just find someone else?"

"That is a problem." Carson murmured, tapping the bench. "I suppose we'll just have to hope that the alien being is desperate enough, or depleted enough of energy, to take whatever it can get first. Which only leaves one person."

"Rodney." John murmured. "Well, okay, lets start with the worst one first. How do we get Elizabeth free?"

"Oh, that one's easy." Carson replied, gesturing to a nearby bag. "We'll have to do the age-old 'fake death' thing. The alien thinks she's dead, goes to the next available host. Which in this case will be the canister."

"And Rodney?"

"I'm afraid he'll have to drug himself, otherwise the alien will try to inhabit him."

"Right." John sighed, before frowning. "But there has to be one concrete thing. Rodney has to believe that Elizabeth is dead."

"What?" Teyla was the one to outcry at that, moving over to John. "John, you cannot do that to him. Everyone here knows how he cares for Doctor Weir. If he is forced to kill her..."

"But he won't be. And she'll wake up within a few minutes, by which time the alien will be safely inside the container. Right Carson?"

Hesitant at first, Carson finally nodded. Glancing to Teyla, he shrugged. "It's the only way. The Major's right. Rodney has ta believe, otherwise he might give it away. I know how much he'll be hurt..." Idly he glanced to Jane, worry rising at her obvious quietness. "But, well he'll understand. He'll have ta stab himself too. And they'll wake up soon enough, don't worry."

Teyla just sighed, her gaze drifting to the canister. "All this for such a small thing."

"It'll be over soon, don't worry Teyla, then we can get back to normal things." John smiled, patting her arm, before glancing to Zelenka. "Okay then, we need to get this canister built back up, and hidden in Rodney's quarters, and that syringe good and ready Doc. Work as fast as you possibly can. Rodney and Elizabeth are counting on us."


	8. Action Time

"_Rodney? If you can hear me, don't say anything. Wherever you are, listen. We've worked out the canister, and we've formulated a plan. Stall Elizabeth for around twenty minutes or so, and then take her back to your quarters. There'll be some things in your closet to use, they'll have instructions. Tell us when you've finished. Good luck McKay."_

Rodney just rolled his eyes at the inner message. Typical. It was always left up to him. Not that he didn't mind being the hero of course...

"Well, here we are." Elizabeth smiled warmly to Rodney, clinging as ever to his arm. "Would you like to come in?"

Yes, no, yes, no. The coin continued to flip in his mind, but he had to stall her, and he couldn't do it out here for twenty minutes. "Yes, we can sit and talk." Rodney finally supplied, the irony of a thousand women who'd always just wanted to 'talk' springing to mind as he followed her in. "Wow, nice place."

"Thank you." Elizabeth replied with a warm smile. "The Athosian's gifts have really spiced up the decor don't you think? Plus it's one of my privileges, getting the best pick of decorative trinkets found from missions."

Rodney chuckled at that as he glanced around a little more. It was certainly 'Elizabeth'. The trinkets weren't something she'd lied about. Each gift had its own special place, and everything was neat; not like the organised mess of his own quarters. But then maybe that was a good thing. Elizabeth's calmness against his panic, her sensible order against his natural chaos. Her warm smile mirrored his own then as he moved to sit next to her.

Almost immediately she leaned over, moving to kiss him, and as much as he wanted too he found himself pulling back. "No, not yet. I really thought we could talk." He'd never thought he'd hear himself say that to a women, especially one that so obviously wanted him. Although technically of course it was an alien-woman, but still.

"Listen..." Maybe that was it. He _should_ forget she was an alien. This was his ultimate chance after all. Not to be close to her in that way, but to actually say how he felt, without fear of Elizabeth rejecting him.

Slowly he turned to face her, placing his hands on her. Those soft eyes of hers watched him thoughtfully, and he was reminded of how much she always listened to him.

"Elizabeth, I don't know how long I've felt like this. Over the time on Atlantis, you've guided me, coaxed me, made me feel so much more valuable then I honestly could myself. You're intelligent, thoughtful, and yet the strongest women I've ever known. I, used to think that was someone else, back on Earth, but I never realised how strong you are inside. You don't show it like others, because you leave that to them. The greatest thing though, is that you're like that with me. And I-" This was it. He held her hand a little more tightly. "I l-well, think, that possibly I might be, I'm, well." Taking a deep breath, he tried again. "I think, I'm falling in love with you, or, something very similar. I know I shouldn't. Especially with Jane and everything, but unlike astrophysics, it's one of those things you can't really control."

Once more he looked into her eyes, and was surprised to find tears in them. But behind them was a clarity that seemed strangely familiar.

"Elizabeth?" He murmured softly, before she leaned forward and kissed him, kissed with more strength then before. It felt different somehow, more real, and he welcomed it so happily.

"_Rodney! Where the hell are you?"_

"Oh crap!" He cried, pulling away, continuing even as Elizabeth fell on top of him. "My quarters, we have to go to my quarters!"

Elizabeth blinked back at him, confusion written all over her face. "Rodney, what are you talking about?"

"My quarters, um, we have to go there because... because the bed's more comfortable. Yeah, and plus it's warmer. When we're um-uh, that thing without clothes, then we should be warmer."

Elizabeth blinked once more, before shrugging. "Okay then Rodney. If that's what you want. Lead the way."

Rodney let out an audible gulp, before scrambling up and taking hold of her hand. "Right, okay then. Off to the quarters it is."

He lead her through the halls, trying his best to hide his nervousness, but it showed in the quickness of his steps. Strangely though Elizabeth didn't seem to mind, looking almost as flushed as he was. The time it took was hard to calculate in his mind, and he soon found himself pulling Elizabeth through the doorway. A flashback rose to his mind, of when they'd been stuck in those visions of home; that day she'd came to his apartment. But she hadn't really had she? It was just an illusion, a little like this was.

With all the haste before, he suddenly found that they were both quiet, just watching each other. The air tingled, and his mind slipped into that comfortable panic that always rose in situations he wasn't sure about. He wanted to kiss her, he wanted to rip that damned dress off that had been plaguing his mind all night, but most of all he found, he wanted to set Elizabeth free. And he could only do that if he was alone in the room.

His mouth opened, ready to mumble a bad excuse, before he found Elizabeth stepping away.

"Do you mind if I use your washroom? I'm feeling a little flushed, I could use a dose of cold water. I should be a few minutes."

Rodney blinked back at her, wondering at the strangeness of this new development. He almost found himself protesting for a moment before he quickly nodded.

"Eh, sure. Take as long as you want. Even tidy up if you feel like it!" Wincing quickly at his own comment, he looked relieved as Elizabeth just ignored it, and headed into the washroom. As the door shut with a satisfying 'click', Rodney darted over to his closet, throwing open the door. Thankfully the guys hadn't hidden it much, and the canister was noticeable enough. Grabbing the other package, he darted back out, pulling out the syringe.

"What in the-?" What were they thinking? The canister was pretty obvious, somehow he had to lure the alien out. But why the syringe.

Peeking over at the washroom door, he then lowered his voice.

"Guys? You there?"

"_Finally! You're in your quarters then? Find the packages?"_

"Uh yeah, about that… what exactly am I supposed to do?"

"_Well, that's the bad news Rodney. You agree that if this alien being got free, it could wreak havoc to us?"_

"Well, yeah, of course. I mean it pretty much destroyed that world of the Ancients."

"_So you understand that there have to be sacrifices?"_

"I don't think I like where this is going Major."

"_McKay, just read the label on the damn syringe."_

"Label? What lab-'Stab with this'. You've got to be kidding me! I'm supposed to stab Elizabeth?"

"_Don't forget yourself. We have to make it so that the creature needs to go into that canister Rodney. I'm sorry, but this is the only way. There's no personnel near you, so when you both go, the canister should look pretty attractive. And there's one more thing…"_

"Apart from killing myself and Elizabeth?"

"_Uh, yeah. You need to make the alien as exhausted as possible, make it use up as much energy as you can."_

"Is that it?" Rodney muttered bitterly, glancing down at the syringe.

"_Yes. Rodney, don't worry, we'll be listening the whole time. And I really am sorry for this."_

Rodney just shook his head, unable to even answer with his rising anger. How could they? How could they decide such a thing for him and Elizabeth? With all the beings he'd faced; the Wraith, the Genii, the G'oauld, he'd never once imagined a fate as horrible as this. Killing the women he was in love with. It was despicable. He was almost tempted to fling the syringe away, and let the alien roam free. But he knew he couldn't. Because deep down he knew that Elizabeth would be willing to do this.

Sighing softly, he slipped the syringe into the top drawer of the cabinet next to the bed. If everything went well, then he should be able to reach it easily from there. Now all that was left was the canister. He couldn't just leave it out, it'd be too obvious. He'd just have to leave it in the closet with the door open, and hope that the alien creature would be able to detect it.

At least they would still be able to hear him the entire time. He was almost tempted to recite a few last words, but then decided against it. Somehow he wasn't even in the mood for that. Still though…

"Major?"

A moment passed, and Rodney frowned. Had they turned down the volume or something?

"Major?" Rodney hissed a little louder this time.

"Is that your new pet name for me?"

Rodney froze in his mini-hunch, feeling the gaze of Elizabeth from behind him. How could he have not heard the door opening? There was always a comforting sound-effect similar to Star Trek that he felt especially proud of. Slowly he turned, and froze once more, except this freeze was the one of a man who's just felt all the heat in his body switch to 'Red Alert', and shoot to vital areas.

She was, well, she was, wearing something that was… "Uh, gah, um… go, g, re, we, t-" His babbling continued as she sauntered towards him, the black silk nightie refusing to move from it's rather staunch skin-tight hold against her body. Thoughts zipped through his head, making a pass to his mouth if they felt they had the energy too, and he just stood there like a lemon. Yes, lemons. Damn things, always gave him such allergic reactions, with their infuriating tang, and-the way they rustled as they walked-and, when they squirted-and oh, the rippling thing with the reflecting light and… One by one, the various systems of Rodney's brain screeched to a halt, and he just stood and gaped.

That is, until Elizabeth sent a stinging slap across his cheek. "Uh, what the… huh?" It was enough to wake part of him at least, and he blinked at her, before quickly wincing as she grabbed his arm. "Yeow!" He yelped loudly, trying to pull back. "Look, I want to be with you, but not in that kind of way. I may be geeky, but I don't go so far into freakdom that a stop into 'beat-up-Rodney-ville' sends a tingling sensation down my spine. Too many memories of sch-OW!"

Elizabeth slapped him once more, her eyes now quite obviously brimming with a hurricane of rainbow colours. "You little, snivelling, humanoid! I have been fulfilled by greater then you, and I shall not be tricked by one so primitive!"

A sharp sting shot through Rodney's ear, and he saw a flash as the earpiece shot out of it, bouncing off into the corner of the room.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

The bathroom door slammed shut loudly, while the lights of the room flickered. The room seemed to be hazier now, and Rodney could feel her grip tightening. It was certainly one way to cull the libido he thought idly as she continued to sneer at him.

"You know exactly! You are no Atlantean. You came. You stole. You try to use technology that you know nothing of, and believe that I cannot control?!

"It-it was you!" Rodney suddenly cried, trying his best to wrestle free. "You didn't need Elizabeth's body to hurt Carson, you're like, some kind of weird poltergeist!"

Obviously unfamiliar with the word, Elizabeth merely tightened her grip, pushing him towards the bed. "You will satisfy me now humanoid, and I will be fulfilled. The hunger will cease. The hunger must cease!"

He could see it in her eyes now, the hunger. If he looked for too long, he could almost feel it fighting to get out, fighting to take hold of his own life and consume it. But then he also knew this was it. If the creature was this hungry, then it must be weak, it must be.

"Elizabeth!" He shouted, trying his best to wrestle free. "Elizabeth, it's weak! Try and fight it! It's me, Rodney!"

For a moment her eyes flickered, he could almost see the battle in her eyes. "Rodney!" The clarity returned for a nano-second, enough to allow the grip to release and Rodney to dart away, but the creature's anger resurfaced and she lurched back towards him.

"You cannot win! I control her, I control the one you love. Give in, or I will hurt her. And then I shall consume you."

Rodney could feel the threat, it was unlike any that other enemies could deliver. The Wraith could take lessons from that creature in fear tactics.

"Fine!" Rodney found himself shouting, mentally retracing his steps then. What exactly was he going to do? He had no contact with the others, he only had the syringe and the canister. Maybe if he could get Elizabeth to come out again then…

"Fine." He repeated, physically calming. "But only, only on one condition. You let Elizabeth come out. I want to be with _her, _not you."

Elizabeth sneered, still moving towards him. "You do not trick so easily. I could force you to mate with me right now!"

"But then your energy would be gone wouldn't it? I can see it in your eyes now, it's nearly gone anyway. Who's to say you'd survive? I only ever wanted one thing. To be with Elizabeth. But I know if I try and do anything, you will attack Elizabeth, and kill her. I don't want that."

Elizabeth watched him for a moment, and Rodney found it hard to keep her gaze. It was times like this you realised how much the human body was such a vessel. Everything else happened behind the eyes. For all that time, he almost expected her to faint, or to droop or something. But there was simply a slight change, and he knew it was Elizabeth once more. He rushed towards her, ready to hug her, but in that same moment she grabbed him and kissed him.

Maybe it was a trick. He pulled away and gazed into her eyes. But he knew that clarity anywhere. "Elizabeth?" He murmured, wanting to cry at the sight of her; the real her.

Elizabeth nodded lightly, before pulling him back. "Please." She murmured as tears formed. "Please Rodney, just, give me this; before I'm devoured. Please…"

Pleaded by a woman, it was almost enough to make him laugh. But her eyes just drew him in further, and he had to give in. All that pent-up anger, and worry, and sadness tore forth and he pulled her close, embracing her as he had wanted to do for so long. And it was so right, so free, so… everything he had ever wanted. His body took over, and with un-Rodney-like coordination, his shirt was removed in a matter of seconds. Bed, was the next direction from his brain, and he pulled her over to it, carrying her with him. It was like one fluid motion, no breaks, no gaps, and no worry; just fulfilment, as he pulled her on top of him and yanked down that nightgown of hers. Elizabeth was-no, he couldn't even think the word, just feel it as their skin touched fully and electricity shot through him. Pants. Next instruction, and his hand shot down to the buttons, already working quickly at them.

"Rodney." His name was so soft, for a moment he wondered if he had dreamed it, if all of this was a dream. Elizabeth… his eyes met hers, and he felt sudden guilt welling up inside him. He was taking advantage. This was no way for her to die! He wanted to throw her off him, but as if reading his mind, she just shook her head.

"Rodney." Again she pleaded. "Now Rodney, do it now. There may not be much time."

Did she mean, but, how could she know. "I-I can't." Rodney murmured as he looked up at her. How could he possibly…?

"Rodney, please! I can't hold it off much longer!"

His hand felt for the drawer, yanking it open, fingers soon closing on the syringe. Why, why did he have to do this? Why? His eyes moved to close, but then the scientist part of his mind broke through. If his eyes were closed, he might miss, he had to be clinical about this.

Tears welled and in one last culminating effort he kissed Elizabeth and drove the syringe into her neck. The scream tore through him and he rose to escape it quickly. He wanted to run, wanted to hide, wanted to break every bone in his body. But he still had one last thing to do. He lifted the syringe up to drive it into his own neck, but the glass suddenly shattered, splintering into his hand.

There was no time even to utter an incomprehensible sound as the lights began to flicker violently, the room shaking, his eyes treading a dreadful path back to the bed. It had left quicker then he'd realised, and now the syringe was shattered, whatever chemicals the doctor had given staining the carpet. But the needle was still there in his hand, now stained from his own blood. It had to be quick, to stop the alien getting his energy. The canister first though. Quickly he dove to the closet, grabbing the canister and twisting in the ZPM fully. The canister produced its own eerie light, and for a moment it seemed as if the cloud hesitated. It was all Rodney needed. Elizabeth was dead now at least, perhaps there'd be some weird scientist afterlife where he'd be able to meet with her occasionally. Gulping, he steadied his hand, before driving the needle home, and tearing it through his neck as forcefully as he could. The pain was too much for even his mind to bear, and he collapsed, blood already leaving the new gash.

------

Slow. So slow. Energy… where? Them. No. Not enough. Many. But too far. Light. Light in darkness. Familiar. HUNGER. Yes, better. Better.

------

"I don't like this!" John cried as he peered over Grodin's shoulder. "Why the hell isn't he responding?"

"Major." Grodin replied in strangled tones. "I cannot work with you looking over my shoulder."

"I'm sorry it's just… I'm worried okay? He hasn't replied for five minutes." Twirling around in a frantic hope to get his mind arranged, John finally nodded. "Okay, that's it, we're going in. Ford, Teyla, and Beckett you're with me. Grodin, tell the nearest Security team to meet us at Rodney's quarters."

"It may take a few moments, we cleared the area extensively."

"Then I guess we'll just have to hope for the best right?" John sighed, before glancing to Beckett. "You better be prepared for this Doc."

"As prepared as I ever will be Major." Carson replied, before shrugging. "Besides, if they both used the syringe they should be waking up about now."

Elizabeth's eyes flickered open and for a moment she yawned and stretched in the same way that most people do when their brain's trying to work out where exactly they are. Of course this brought a wince from her as pain shot through her neck, her fingers going there. The next port of call for her brain was the fact that she was sat on someone's bed in a skimpy nightie, and essentially topless. Quickly yanking the straps back up, she slid off the bed. Apart from an eerie glow in the corner from what looked like a strangely familiar canister, the room itself was dark. Shuffling around, she winced as she nearly tripped over something.

"I wish I knew what the hell was going on…" Elizabeth murmured, kneeling down and feeling around. It seemed like a boot, which led to an ankle, and inevitably a leg. Okay, so the canister was triggering a memory. But why was there a body in her quarters? Her brain triggered once more and she blinked. No, not hers. It had a different shape, plus as her eyes accustomed she could see piles of clothing coming from a nearby closet. Her clothes were always neatly hung up. As her body shivered, she rose, padding over to what seemed to be a nearby door. Making sure to avoid the canister, she heaved the door aside enough to let her through.

Like so many bathrooms across the universe, a light flickered somewhere and she found herself confronted by the vision of a ghostly woman. After the initial jumping motion, she realised it was herself, and her eyes trailed to the blood trickling from her neck. Sighing she ransacked a nearby cupboard for any sort of bandage. Thankfully the person had adhered to first aid rules, and she managed to secure it around the neck. But why was it bleeding in the first place?

"Rodney?!" The shout echoed out, and Elizabeth blinked. Padding back out of the bathroom, she edged around the canister once more, and moved over to the other door.

"Uh, no, it's Doctor Weir."

Muffled noises managed to slip through the door, before there was a fuller reply of. "Glad to hear from you Elizabeth. How's Rodney?"

"Rodney?" The surprise was evident in her voice, and she frowned. "Look, do you think you could open the door? The main light seems to be broken in here."

A few more muffled noises, followed by manly grunts, before John's voice came back. "Uh, no, looks like we can't budge it. I guess we'll have to get Grodin to do some fancy work with the computer. Try and find Rodney if you can, he, uh, might be on the floor."

"On the fl-Rodney!" Memories came flooding back, and Elizabeth barrelled away from the door, trying her best to retrace her steps in the gloom. The shape of a pair of boots caught her attention, and she stumbled over, her hands following the legs up, across a torso, finally coming to rest on his features. It was definitely Rodney, she'd recognise him anywhere. But even in this lack of light she could tell he wasn't well. Her fingers traced his neckline until they came to where she was searching for, the harm unmistakeable as her fingers were covered in blood in a matter of seconds. A pool had already darkened the carpet next to him, and as a sickly feeling rose in her stomach she searched desperately for his pulse. No, he couldn't be dead, he just couldn't be!

Elizabeth found tears welling, tears she didn't want. For a fleeting moment she wanted to join him, to share an afterlife with him, but then her sane mind pushed through, pointing out the fact that he may still be saved.

With a 'whoosh' that Rodney would've been proud of, the door suddenly opened, filling the room with light, and a small group of people. The event was obviously too gruesome for anyone to comment on Elizabeth's state of attire, or indeed why her hands were covered in blood. Still somewhat in shock herself, she kneeled back as Carson rushed to his side.

"Oh dear…" He murmured, quickly producing bandages to stem the flow of blood.

"What-the, I thought you said he'd just be put to sleep?" John as always was soon at the front, his eyes wide now as he looked down at the pale form of Rodney.

"I did!" Carson replied as he worked on his friend. "But obviously summit went wrong. Mebbe the alien did something. He still stabbed himself though, unfortunately with quite good accuracy."

"Meaning?" John muttered back, as he felt blood rushing away from his own face.

"Meaning…" Carson sighed, helping the other medics place him on a stretcher. "He managed to tear a major artery in his neck. The damage wasn't much, but he's lost a lot of blood because of it. I'm afraid it's gonna be touch'n'go."

Elizabeth couldn't prevent the gasp at Carson's words, and found soon after that she didn't want too. Her mind was now too worried to even let her body notice the cold, and she stumbled forward to him. "My God." She murmured softly, tracing his cheek with her fingers. "I can't believe he stabbed himself."

"I can't believe he stabbed you." John replied, before sighing. "Look, we'd better let Carson take him, there's nothing more we can do now. Teyla, uh, perhaps you better help Elizabeth back to her quarters? She's looking a bit cold."

"No, I want to, I want to…" But Elizabeth could already feel her energy depleting, and she let Teyla usher her away, allowing herself the merest of glimpses back at Rodney.

As they moved down the corridor, she glanced to Teyla. "Do you think that he'll be okay?"

"I believe that Dr. McKay is far too valuable to be lost Dr. Weir."

"I guess you're right. It's just…" A sigh passed her lips, and she pondered opening her heart to Teyla. The memories were already trickling back fully now, and yet she wasn't sure if she wanted to let everyone know about them. Certainly everything that had happened would need to be resolved, but it depended when, and more importantly if, Rodney ever woke up.

Teyla watched her curiously, and Elizabeth just shook her head. "Never mind. I've got a lot to think about. No doubt Carson will want me to get some rest, although if I can get any I don't know."

Smiling warmly, Teyla gently pushed Elizabeth towards the door of her quarters. "I believe that you should at least try though. I am sure the Major can handle things from here until the morning."

"But." Elizabeth suddenly realised. "What about the canister? I don't know anything about it, but the trouble began when we brought it here. It should be returned shouldn't it?"

Teyla nodded to that, before patting her gently. "No doubt the Major will have it sent back as soon as possible. What we have found can be retold to you as soon as you are better, and from the looks of it, the creature should be sent back before it regains energy."

Elizabeth just nodded, already feeling her attention wavering. It had felt like such a long time, and even now trying to think about it was like trying to grasp hold of a gnawing tooth whose root happened to be made of jelly. Just sighing to herself, she sent Teyla a light wave, and then headed into her quarters. Relieved to see her light working, she didn't even bother to change, stumbling over to her bed and clambering under the covers with relief. The next few moments was one of quiet, as she allowed the weight of all that had happened to settle upon her; an act she could only do alone, and which caused her eyes to close quickly. Silence soon settled, broken only by the sound of someone trying to quieten their own tears.


	9. Epilogue

Yes I finally got it done! Took me a while since my first draft got vaporised by my college computer on the floppy disk, and uh, I've somehow added an extra couple of pages to the original length. So enjoy, and I hope it wraps everything up!

John glared down at the sheaf of blank paper as if it was the culprit of a mass paper-cut-induced murder, before allowing a deep sigh to pass his lips. How in God's name was he even supposed to start this report? People being inhabited, fake-killed, with various acts and heightened tension that could possibly pull the Atlantis team apart... At least the canister was now safely off Atlantis and back on that planet, it was a good job the alien being had depleted its energy. Really, it was hard enough to get matters settled in his mind, never mind the hassles of arranging grammar and spelling into something someone else could read. With a loud groan this time, he tossed the paper on to the desk and leaned back in his chair, eyes closing in a vain attempt to forget about the problems before him.

"As unfamiliar as I am with report writing… this does not seem an appropriate way to start."

The quiet voice pierced John's avoidance, and he allowed one eye to flicker open.

"Oh, Teyla." Quickly he straightened up; reaching for the papers even as she reached over herself to hand them back. "Didn't see you there, I was uh, taking a break." Trying his best to hide the lack of ink on the paper, he sent her a grin. "Care to take me away from this hard slog for a while?"

Teyla tilted her head, a faint hint of a smirk on her lips. "As hard as I see you've been working Major, no, that was not my purpose." Straightening up, her features shifted to one of more seriousness, and she added. "Dr. McKay is awake."

"Really? Great!" John darted up quickly, already tossing the papers back on to the desk. "We can go and see him then." Any excuse for getting out of paperwork.

A warning hand on his arm stopped him though, and he blinked back to Teyla. Not bothering to say a word, her eyes rather pointedly fell on the blank paper scattered across the desk.

"Teyla, come on, I can do that later! It's not… really… im-oh, alright!" His protests crumbled quickly under Teyla's scrutiny and he slumped back into the chair with a sulky expression. "Fine, I'll finish this. I don't see why I can't go and see him though…"

"John." Teyla stepped forward, perching on the edge of the desk. "We are all aware of your concern for Dr. McKay, but a thought did cross my mind that perhaps there is someone, as hard as it may sound, more concerned for his well-being then you."

John opened his mouth to quickly reply to this, caught Teyla's expression, and so instead thought about her words. After a moment a flicker of realisation crossed his features and he oh-ed softly.

"You mean, Elizabeth."

Teyla nodded, and slid off the desk. "However, he will not keep her preoccupied for long, so I suggest you get on with the report."

Rolling his eyes, John obediently did as he was told; trying to ignore the evident smirk that once more appeared on Teyla's features as she headed out.

-

"No, Rodney, NOOO!"

Elizabeth fought her way out from under the covers, for a moment pausing to allow her brain to make the transition from nightmare to reality. Blinking to clear her vision, she then gently licked her lips. The dryness of them startled her, and she darted out of bed quickly, unable to ignore the feel of the sheets peeling off her. She'd been sweating, and the reason why was obvious. With a soft sigh she rubbed her forehead, realising that the one thing she needed now more then anything was a cold shower.

The few moments of undressing were quickly forgotten in the haze of her mind, the cold water quickly jerking it awake soon after. For a long moment, she forced herself to stand there shivering, before she gently turned the heat up. Tears welled up inside her, and even though she knew no one could see her, and the water would hide them well, she forced them back. No, today would not be a day of tears. She had to get over this. More importantly, she had to get out of the shower before she turned into a permanent prune.

Reluctantly leaving the safe confines of the shower, she ambled over to the wardrobe and retrieved her safest items of clothing; her uniform. As she dried her hair, she stared down at them laid out on her bed. Once she put them on, she'd be herself again. No more tears or pain. She'd once more be the leader, and have to get on with everything. Gingerly, her fingers went to her neck, where the hole still lay. The wince jolted her, and she shook her head, immediately grabbing for the uniform. With force she yanked it on, but then quickly revelled in the familiarity. This was it; she could be Dr. Weir again.

A knock at the door interrupted those thoughts, and she headed over, opening it to find the concerned look of Teyla.

"Oh, Teyla, hi." Noting her concern, she blinked. "Is something wrong?"

Only now realising her look, Teyla quickly corrected it, shaking her head. "No, at least not that I know of." Realising this was only deepening Elizabeth's worry, Teyla added. "It's Dr. McKay, he's awake."

Elizabeth's eyes widened and she blinked back at Teyla before fully allowing it all to sink into her mind. "Awake?" It settled, and then resurfaced, and Elizabeth stepped out. "Okay, I guess we'd better go and see how he is then."

"Actually I have some business to attend to Doctor." Teyla supplied quietly with a soft smile. "But I will see Dr. McKay soon, so give him my wishes…"

"You're, not coming with me?" Elizabeth asked, looking almost scared for a moment. After all, how much did Rodney believe?

Teyla simply stared back at her, before repeating. "No, I have some business to attend too. As I said, I shall see him as soon as possible. I'm sure he will be glad to see you."

"Yes, I'm sure he will." Elizabeth murmured, before smiling to Teyla. "Fine, yes, of course. Well, enjoy your business Teyla." With a light nod, Elizabeth moved off, allowing thoughts to drift into her consciousness. All that had happened, between her and Rodney, how could it possible be aligned in her mind? The alien being had done so much more to her then she'd first realised. It was gone for good now at least, but somehow it had awakened these desires. Even now, she could feel her heart racing as she got closer to the infirmary, and butterflies awakening within her stomach. It didn't feel right at her age. God, listen to her, now she really sounded old… She shook her head and stepped fully into the infirmary, making a beeline for the only occupied cubicle, its curtains pulled across for now.

"Dr. Weir." Carson suddenly appeared out of nowhere, grabbing hold of her arm. "I was just gonna come and get ya. Bin wanting to take a look at that neck o'yours."

Elizabeth sighed, glancing between him and the cubicle. With inner frustration, she ignored the butterflies and let Carson lead her away. "Of course Carson." Obediently she sat while he prodded and poked, and then sent him a smile. "All done?"

Carson sent her a sweet smile, before patting her arm. "Aye, all done. You'll be havin' a beauty of a bruise for a week or so, but it should clear up in no time. I'm afraid y'ill be beaten by Rodney though."

Elizabeth's eyes instinctively shot to the cubicle, and she noticed the grin in Carson's voice as he added. "You're free ta go and see him. He woke up an hour or so ago, so should've got past the groggy stage."

Without replying, just sending him a nod, Elizabeth moved over to the cubicle, twitching the curtains aside. Unable to stop the sigh that passed her lips, she instead relished in the sight of Rodney so peacefully asleep. As his chest laboured quietly, she moved to sit by him, unable to stop the movement that inevitably brought her hand atop his.

"Oh Rodney…" She murmured softly, forcing back the tears she'd sworn she wouldn't allow today. "My hero…"

The wince from Rodney broke his quiet disguise, and his eyes flickered open. "Uh, please don't call me that." Turning a touch then, he added. "I wish I felt like one."

Laughing softly to that, Elizabeth squeezed his hand gently. "Hey, you will when you get better. Carson says that you'll be up and about in no time. The only problem will be the jealousy from that marvellous hickie on your neck."

Rodney rolled his eyes, squeezing Elizabeth's hand back gently. "Please don't mention that, I just want to forget all about it." Sighing softly, a thought pierced his mind, and his eyes strained to lock with hers. "How is your head?"

Elizabeth's gaze purposefully darted away from his, the lie out of her mouth before she could stop it. "Oh fine, as well as can be expected. It's all a daze to me really though, can't exactly remember much."

Rodney was surprised at the relief that shot through him, and he masked it as well as he could with a light grin. "Glad to hear it. About your head, I mean. I suppose it'll be good to forget about everything…" In an effort to lighten the mood, he smirked and glanced around. "Anyway, if I'm such a hero, where are all the beautiful women who're supposed to be worshipping me right now?"

"Helping Teyla with John's birthday party." Elizabeth quipped back, grinning at Rodney's comments.

Rodney just rolled his eyes. "Typical. He always gets to be Kirk, while I'm stuck being the scientist." Another squeeze on his hand pulled his gaze back to Elizabeth, and he found himself smiling warmly. "At least I get one beautiful woman." Immediately his eyes widened and he blinked. "Uh, sorry, I-"

"Rodney, it's fine." Elizabeth replied, inwardly shouting at her stomach for the lurch it had just given, while outwardly she patted his forehead. "I can see your head's still hurting, must be affecting your eyesight."

"Yeh, I guess so." Rodney murmured, before shifting a touch. "Anyway, when is this grand party for the Major?"

"Oh, a few days." Elizabeth leant back in her chair, laughing softly. "Teyla's been running all over the place, while making sure that John doesn't notice. It's nice that she cares for him so much."

"Yeah, he's lucky to have someone feel for him like that." Rodney quickly bit on his lip, his eyes lowering to the covers.

Elizabeth licked her lips gently, watching him. Somehow they had to get past this. The party would be the perfect place, but until then… "Well, I'm sure you'll have fun at the party anyway."

"I'm not sure I'm going to go." Rodney admitted, slinking back under the covers a little more. Suddenly he felt like hiding there for the next millennia. "I'm probably not quite ready, uh stress and all."

Elizabeth's eyes couldn't hide her disappointment, and she sighed softly. "I see. Well I suppose I'll just have to find someone else to whiz me around the dance floor, despite the practice we've had."

The first initial pang of jealousy at the thought of Elizabeth dancing with someone else was overcome by the even stronger surprise that she'd remembered something. "You-you remember that?"

"How could I forget?" Elizabeth replied warmly, leaning back over to him with raised eyebrows. "You're quite the mover. If I'm honest, it felt a bit like walking on air."

Rodney gulped, stuttering as he felt the blood rushing to his cheeks. "Uh well, probably the alien-thing, doing that." As her gaze continued to focus on him, he mumbled back. "Perhaps, I could go, just for a bit?"

"Perfect!" Elizabeth replied, squeezing his arm. "I'll be sure to pick something nice to wear, considering Teyla wants this to be extra special for John so…"

"I have to wear a tux!" Rodney's eyes widened, ignoring the pain as he jolted up in bed.

Laughing at that, Elizabeth shook her head. "Rodney, even if we could get one, it's not as formal as that. Just a shirt. You look quite nice in a shirt." Damn, another slip. Elizabeth bit her lip, and decided to rise before Rodney could question her further. "Anyway, I'd better be going. Got things to prepare and so forth, not to mention things to catch up on."

Rodney watched her carefully, before allowing a nod. "Yes, I suppose you do. I'll have a look around when I get back to my quarters. Don't worry Elizabeth; I shall go to the ball."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes with a good-natured smile before allowing herself a bit of concern. "Rodney, don't worry. Just remember, it's all over now." With those last words and another smile, she moved off.

Rodney watched her go, even as he slumped back down into the bed. 'Over'. The word turned in his mind and he sighed. As true as that may be, there was this strangely elated feeling in his stomach that told him it may just be the beginning.

-

Elizabeth sighed as she stepped back into her quarters, resting back against the recently closed door. As her eyes closed she winced at the headache that throbbed through her mind. She was beginning to wonder if maybe she couldn't get over this quite as quickly as she'd hoped. While the headache persisted, she moved over to her wardrobe, gently leafing through the small selection of clothes that she had. That dress she'd worn last night… her fingers paused, and she chuckled hollowly to herself. Of course, it'd still be in Rodney's quarters. Almost tempted to go and retrieve it, she quickly changed her mind, instead surveying her other options.

It probably wouldn't have been a good idea to wear it anyway. Certainly not fair on Rodney, not when he was so obviously trying to forget. As she allowed her thoughts to settle on that fact, her fingers closed on a dress hidden at the back of her closet. Curiously she drifted away from her thoughts and pulled the garment out, eyes quickly tracing it. It was unlike anything she'd ever buy. It had thin shoulder straps, with a deep V-cut neckline, criss-crossed with leather strips, and even without wearing it she could tell the blousing skirt didn't go that far down. Not to mention its striking crimson colour. So when did she get it? Memories replayed and she looked at it once more. Of course! It was that gift from Teriana, a budding Athosian seamstress from the mainland.

As she moved to replace it, Elizabeth felt a sudden welling deep inside of her. She wanted to wear this, for Rodney. "What?" Elizabeth blinked, staring at the dress. No, she'd never done that. Occasions like this were always black, black skirt and nice shirt, or black dress like the one from the other night. But then, maybe… Elizabeth allowed herself a little smile. Maybe that was the whole point. The alien had such bad intentions, but it had awakened within her desires that she hadn't felt since she was a teenager. How long it would last she had no idea, but she found she wanted to fulfil them while the feeling was still within her.

Even if something didn't happen between her and Rodney, why waste the energy within her? With the Wraith still a threat, and impending doom, maybe it was about time she and everyone else on the planet had some fun.

-

Few days later

John muttered under his breath as he crossed out another mistake on the report. Two days later, and he'd managed to write all of… one paragraph. However, and he surveyed the paper with a light grin as he thought this, the sketches of him killing Wraith around the sides were pretty cool. He had to admit it to himself though; it wasn't the recent events that were bothering him. If he was truthful, it was the lack of recent events. Namely, related to his birth date. Rolling his eyes at himself he glanced at his watch. 1800 hours, and still nothing. No card, no presents, not even any well wishes.

"This sucks." John muttered, tossing the report on to his bed. Heck, it was his birthday. He was allowed a rest on today of all days. Moving to set his feet up on the bed, he glanced to the door as he heard some knocking. "Uh, wait there!" Slyly pushing the report underneath the covers, he then strode over to the door. His eyes immediately widened at the sight of Teyla in a very well made dark purple leather dress that he had to admit looked damn good.

"Major." Noticing his obvious attention, Teyla smiled warmly. "A friend of mine made it. She's a new seamstress, but very good. It's not as good as some of the clothes from Earth of course, but… never mind. I have come to invite you to dinner."

John just blinked to her. The invitation registered in his mind, and he blinked once more with a reply of. "Oh, right. Um, well, sure. Why?"

Teyla watched him curiously for a moment, before leaning in with a conspiratorial air. "Is it not your birthday?" She whispered softly, worrying for a moment that perhaps she'd got the date wrong.

"Oh!" John positively beamed, straightening up. "It is! Dinner? Well, that's really nice of you Teyla. I'd be happy too." Noting her attire once more, he added. "I'll, eh, go and change."

"I'll be waiting." Teyla replied simply, before stepping away from the door. A few Athosians darted past with various trays of food, sending Teyla grins and waves even as she shooed them away. Thankfully, they were fully gone when the door reopened and John stepped out. Teyla smiled despite herself as she noticed John's obvious attempt to make his hair look like it had been naturally mussed up.

John just smiled back, slipping his arm through hers. "See, I'm wearing a shirt. I'm smart. Now, where are you taking me?"

"The lunch room."

John stopped for a moment. Of course he'd naturally expected somewhere more private, but as he decided against voicing this, he simply nodded. "Sounds, eh, lovely. Let's go then."

-

Ford muttered a few choice words under his breath as Athosian children darted around him, before quickly placing his large package on to the nearest table. Adjusting the cover, he grabbed a piece of card, making a quick 'DO NOT TOUCH' sign, before he turned to look around the lunchroom.

He had to admit it looked pretty good. The food was placed everywhere, and there was enough room to swing several large cats. Idly he moved over to a nearby food table, adjusting various things.

"Nice selection we got 'ere."

Ford turned, grinning as he saw Carson surveying the food. "Hey Doc. Yeah the Athosians brought most of this stuff. They've really settled in on the mainland."

"Aye they certainly-uh." Carson's face suddenly blanched and he dropped the sandwich he'd half-grabbed. "I'll eh, just go and find ma hiding place I think."

Ford made to comment, but turned to find Carson was already making a beeline for a nearby table. "Well then." Ford glanced around, and met the gaze of Jane, who was also making a beeline for that same table. She sent him a distracted nod and kept moving. Ford just rolled his eyes with a sigh as he rearranged the sandwiches. It seemed like everyone else got angst-ridden relationships and he was stuck with food arrangement. Pondering this for a moment, he then shrugged. Maybe it wasn't so bad.

"I'm sorry, but I believe this food should be tested first!"

The whiny cry could only be one person, and as Ford turned he sighed deeply. Yup, only Kavenaugh had a whine that could cut through glass. Thankfully though he wasn't the one intervening. A grin came to his face as he saw Zelenka heading over to Kavenaugh with a plate of sandwiches.

"I vill test these on your head Kavenaugh if you do not stop whining!"

"And I'll have you on report! We don't even know if these Athosians cook their food to Earth standards!" Despite his warning Kavenaugh was already scampering away, trying to dodge Zelenka's readied plate.

Deciding it'd probably be best to intervene before a food fight commenced, Ford stepped forward, halting Zelenka in his attempt to aim. "Zelenka, come on, we all know Kavenaugh's not worth wasting this food on. No matter how much better his face would look covered up."

As snickers went through the assembled people, Kavenaugh just muttered under his breath, storming off with the kidnapped sandwich.

Ford and Zelenka headed back to the table, Zelenka idly grabbing a sandwich for himself. Ford snatched it away and put it back.

"Well it's a shame there weren't more people for that entertainment."

Zelenka frowned at his thwarted sandwich-scoffing attempt, nodding back. "I just thought he needed a bit of telling. I feel sorry for Rodney having someone like that in his team."

"Huh, yeah. Well, at least Rodney will get to have some fun now that he's gone."

Zelenka slyly reached for another sandwich, asking. "I had not realised he would be coming."

Ford snatched the sandwich back once more, pointedly pushing the plate away from Zelenka's grasp. "Well, I think once Elizabeth talked to him, he probably didn't need much persuasion."

"No, I can see where… he… wouldn't…" As Zelenka's voice trailed off, Ford curiously turned to look. Zelenka's mouth slipped open, while Ford's eyes widened.

"Wow." He murmured, before blinking. "Is that Dr. Weir?"

Zelenka gulped, grabbed a nearby cup and quickly poured himself a drink.

Ford chuckled a little as Zelenka gulped it down, and then turned to smile to Elizabeth as she approached the two. Her cheeks were nearly the same colour as her dress, and she nodded to them both. "Lieutenant, Doctor Zelenka. I presume you're both enjoying everything so far?"

As Zelenka just dumbly stared, Ford rolled his eyes and replied for them both. "Yes, we are."

Finally finding his voice, Zelenka pointed off to a nearby blank space. "I-eh… reports… talk to. Dr. Karison." Without another word he hurried off, idly wiping his forehead.

Elizabeth frowned softly, bracing her hands on the table. Glancing to Ford, she sighed. "Okay then, honestly now Lieutenant. Was this dress a big mistake?"

"Can I be honest?"

Elizabeth nodded her permission, and so Ford grinned. "You look hot!"

"I'll take that as 'no it wasn't a mistake' then shall I?"

Ford just grinned back to her once more, before his gaze darted over to John's covered up present. "Hey!" A small group of Athosian children paused in their peeking to stare at him with innocent looks. "I didn't write that sign for fun you know! What do you think the big letters are for?" As Ford ran off, Elizabeth allowed her gaze to wander. It was obvious attention was on her, more then usual, and she sighed. It was a tempting thought that she could go and change, but then she realised the only excuse she'd have would be fear. Teriana had made the dress surprisingly comfortable, more so because it was strangely made of cotton.

One of the Athosians suddenly ran in, arms waving. "They're coming! They're coming!" As he ran to turn off the lights, Elizabeth's gaze darted around for a hiding place. Noting the table behind her she shrugged and quickly darted underneath it. Unfortunately she found herself colliding with someone and she blushed in the darkness. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I can go and find somewhere else if you want?"

"I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable twice in one week."

Elizabeth blinked for a moment, before sliding up next to the person. "Rodney?" She whispered. "Is that you?"

Noticing the grin that came back to her, Elizabeth chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes… can I smell meat?"

A meat leg was brandished in front of her, before Rodney whispered back. "Hey, I've got some catching up to do. I figured I might as well get a head start. I mean anything lemon-free is fair game."

Elizabeth laughed softly, before she allowed a happy sigh to pass her lips. "You know Rodney, I'm glad to have you back."

There was a moment of quiet, the sign that Rodney was swallowing whatever he'd been eating, before he smiled back to her. "I'm glad to have you back too."

The sounds of cheering and 'Happy Birthday' were heard from outside, and Elizabeth sighed. "Well then, I guess we'd better get on out there."

For a fleeting moment Rodney felt the temptation to drag Elizabeth back to him. He'd got a really good peek at that dress when she'd walked in. But instead he nodded in agreement, moving to surface as well.

Meanwhile, under another table…

"For the last time, will ya leave me alone?" Carson hissed back to Jane, shuffling over to the last remaining space underneath the table.

Jane automatically followed him, eyes wide. "Please Carson; will you just hear me out?"

"No!" Carson hissed once more, raising his hands. "I'll stick ma fingers in ma ears and sing 'la-la' if I have too ya know."

Jane gently took hold of his wrists, fixing her eyes on his. "Carson, you know that would just be childish. Please, we need to talk. We can't just let things go unsaid."

"Why not?" Carson murmured, hope in his eyes. "'Cos I know what you're gonna say, and it ain't gonna work. Rodney's ma best friend."

"But you like me."

"I like a lot of people lass."

Jane rolled her eyes and sighed. "Well I'm not leaving until we talk about this."

"Fine, I'll go then."

As Carson moved to go, Jane grabbed hold of his arm. "And you think that's going to look any better do you? Everyone will be out of a hiding place by now Carson, including Rodney. If he sees us coming out from under a table a while after everyone else, what do you think he's going to think?"

Carson paused to think this over, before he sighed and slumped back. "Fine, I get your point. But I'm only staying till everyone gets busy again. Then I'm sneaking out."

"Fine." Jane replied, smiling to herself as she stared ahead.

-

John's eyes stayed in their surprised positions while he looked around the lunchroom. "I can't believe this! It's absolutely amazing." His gaze darted to Teyla, and he grinned. "Did you plan all this?"

Teyla looked embarrassed for a moment, before remarking. "Well, yes, I did. But Lieutenant Ford helped me with much of it."

Ford raised his arms at that, quick to protest. "Hey now, I didn't do much really. Just shooed along a few people and helped Teyla with the specifics." With a grin back to her, he added. "It was Teyla who really did all the hard work."

Even as Teyla moved to protest herself, John stopped her and enveloped her in a tight hug. "Thank you so much Teyla. This was way more then I expected. I haven't had a birthday party for years, I couldn't really on Earth. I mean they tried in Antarctica but... anyway, I say we get this party started." With a wide grin, he shouted to everyone. "Let's all get our groove on"

Silence prevailed over the gathered crowd, broken only by light sniggers from Earth personnel. Teyla just watched John curiously while he grimaced. "Eh, I forgot half of you are Athosians. I'll try that again." Glancing to Teyla, he asked. "We have music right"

"Of course." Teyla seemed surprised that he would think otherwise, and gestured to the nearby band that were poised to play. "They are the finest of our musicians, and happily agreed to play some of our traditional songs for you. So we can, 'get our groove on'."

John couldn't help but snicker softly at Teyla's matter-of-fact delivery, before he held out his arm. "So, think you could show me some of these traditional dances then"

"I'd be happy too." Teyla replied warmly, slipping her arm through his. And as they moved on to the dance floor, other people took the cue and began to pair up as well.

Rodney's gaze naturally flicked over to Elizabeth, hers doing the same. There was a moment of awkwardness, before Elizabeth asked. "Rodney, would you like to dance"

Surprisingly, Rodney shook his head. "Actually, if you wouldn't mind... do you think we could take this chance to talk" His gaze flickered around the area, before he gestured to a nearby table.

Elizabeth blinked for a moment, before shrugging softly and settling down opposite him. With ease she found herself slipping into listening mode, even with the importance of the subject, and her hands clasped in front of her on the desk. "So..." She ventured. "What do you want to talk about"

Rodney paused for a moment, before sighing. "I think you already know. Elizabeth, us, everything that's happened, I... we can't..." His voice trailed off and he found his eyes naturally rising to meet hers. The sadness within her gaze caused a deep lurch in the pit of his stomach, and he gulped. Why did it have to be like this? But it had to. Because there was so much they couldn't get over. But tonight... he found his mind drifting back to that night. The memory of the candlelight flickering on her features was as vivid now as it was then. And if it was possible, she looked even more radiant tonight because it was her. In a dress that made his stomach lurch in the good way. As he watched her he suddenly realised his stupidity. He was wasting one heck of a chance here. A chance, well a chance to have a good time with Elizabeth, before a return to everything that was normal, and before he definitely had to say no.

Elizabeth leaned forward and tapped his hand softly to wake him from his thoughts. "Can't what Rodney? Dance? I don't see any harm in it really."

Her smile jerked one upon his own features and he laughed softly. "Yeah, of course, you're right. I was just being silly." As their gazes met once more, the message was clear. As much as they both knew what he was really going to say, there was also another understanding. That for tonight at least, they didn't need to think. Licking his lips Rodney held out his hand. "So then, you want to dance"

"I thought you'd never ask." Elizabeth replied warmly, slipping her hand into his. In one fluid motion they both rose and moved over to the dance floor. Gently the flowing couples opened, and then engulfed them once more, the gentle Athosian music moving through everyone.

-

"Lucky buggers." Carson muttered as he let the tablecloth fall once more.

Jane sighed softly, glancing over to him. "You know Carson; you can be quite grumpy sometimes."

"Sometimes? I'm like this all tha time, you'd hate it."

"Actually it's quite endearing. It shows how open you are."

Carson cursed under his breath, before sighing. "Right, I don't care who sees, I'm getting out of 'ere."

Jane grabbed hold of his arm, before swiftly grasping the side of his head with her other hand. "Carson" She hissed. "Will you please just listen to me? You know I won't stop trying this until you listen to me, and this is as good a place as any. Someplace where we can't be interrupted. Where it can be resolved fully. Don't you agree"

"Yes." Carson found the agreement escaping from his lips before he'd even thought about it. He blinked for a moment, only to find Jane's eyes still focused on his. What was wrong with letting her talk? The thought pierced his mind and almost immediately his body relaxed. "Fine, talk."

"Thank you." Jane replied softly, before smiling. "Carson, I think we could be good together. We agree on so many things, we both understand each other. You're so open, you make me laugh, and we just have this great... link. Don't you think"

"Well, yes, we do." Carson admitted, allowing his shields to breakdown. After all, talking with her wasn't that bad. And in some ways she was right. They did share so many things in common, and certainly she was the woman on Atlantis that he now saw the most of and connected with the most.

"Well what's so wrong then?" Jane asked sweetly, sliding closer to him, her eyes locking with his once more.

Carson could feel his heart rate increasing, and as much as his medical knowledge told him this was a natural fight-or-flight reaction, it did nothing to alleviate the nervousness. "Uh, I don't know. It just..." His mind began to swim as she got closer. Gently she placed her hands on the sides of his head, and his thoughts drifted away.

"Carson, please, can't you see how good we could be? Won't you please just kiss me once, just to see what it feels like"

"Yes." The automatic response came again, and Carson wondered where it had come from. But his wonderings soon dissipated once more, and he found himself leaning closer to her. How could he have never wondered about this before? Just one kiss, to see what it felt like... after all, Rodney would never know.

Jane smiled softly as her and Carson drew closer. Perfect, everything was so perfect. Her and Carson, together forever, on Atlantis. Happy forever.

-

Elizabeth rested her head on Rodney's shoulder as they moved through the song gently. Memories of the previous night were still in her mind, but this was so much more real and so much happier then that could ever have been. It had to stop at some point though, especially when the band announced they were taking a break for five minutes. With a soft sigh she couldn't prevent, she pulled away from Rodney.

Rodney blushed a little at the looks that he and Elizabeth had received, and tried his best to ignore them, leading her back to the table. "Well, a few more people then last night, but it was still fun."

Elizabeth laughed softly at that, perching lightly on the edge of the table. "It certainly was. Even more so then last night..." As Rodney gave her a quizzical look, Elizabeth squeezed his hand gently. "Because it was more real for me"

"Oh, right, of course." Rodney realised, before grinning to her. "It really has been fun hasn't it" With a broad smile he looked over Elizabeth, and allowed warm feelings to seep into his mind. It was dangerous, considering how it would all end, but he sure deserved a little happiness, even if it was for one night. Of course after tonight he'd have to give her up, go back to Jane, because that was the best option. His gaze lowered at that, and he tried to ignore the sadness that shot into his heart.

Elizabeth frowned softly, curious as to why Rodney had been silent for so long. Gently she lifted his chin, sending him a grin despite the obvious worry in her eyes. "Hey, no need to look so sad, we've still got hours until it ends you know."

"I know." Rodney replied solemnly, that realisation hitting him hard. He had to make a decision. Tonight was where it would all change. This morning he'd thought that last night was the hardest moment of his life, but now, as he looked down at Elizabeth, and felt the excuses rising to his lips, he realised there could be no worse moment. But, he had too, because Atlantis needed all of him, and all of Elizabeth. Separately, they were better for Atlantis, together they would only cause problems. Especially if it all went wrong. And he couldn't take that risk. So he'd have to tell her, give her the biggest lie of his life, that he loved Jane and not her. "Elizabeth..."

The crash was loud enough to cause everyone's heads to snap around, and even those who didn't look were immediately nudged to the fact that Carson and Jane were lying on top of each other with the remnants of a food table around them. Elizabeth's eyes widened, anger immediately shooting through her. Abruptly she turned to see Rodney's reaction, but he was already gone, storming away from the lunchroom. Torn for the briefest of moments, Elizabeth pushed down her hurt for Rodney, and stalked forward through the muttering crowd.

Carson pushed Jane off him, for a moment allowing his gaze to sweep over the crowd. The fog swiftly lifted from his mind and he blinked. What the hell had happened? He hadn't acted like that since he was a lot younger... His mouth opened to protest, but nothing came out, and so he hurried past Elizabeth. "I'm-tell him... I don't know what..." He stuttered to Elizabeth, before shaking his head and moving off. The attention of the room quickly settled on Elizabeth and Jane, the held breath of the entire room evident as Elizabeth approached her. Even Jane watched her apprehensively. Everyone, even the Athosians it seemed, knew or had heard of rumours about Rodney and Elizabeth. Everyone waited. But, Elizabeth realised, as much as she really wanted too, she certainly wasn't going to deliver. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed hold of Jane's wrist, and then turned to the crowd. "Right. Well, now that the entertainment has finished, I suggest we all get back to enjoying the beautiful music of Teyla's people." A sharp look was sent to the band, which was already hurriedly moving back to their instruments, before Elizabeth dragged Jane out of the lunchroom.

"Well, you heard her!" Ford suddenly shouted through the hushed silence. "Lets all get back to enjoying ourselves okay?" The order was evident and everyone quickly did so, or at least tried looking as if they were. Ford strolled back to John, sighing to him. "Sorry about all that sir. I can honestly say that we didn't plan that. Are you okay"

John frowned a little. "Not really Lieutenant, I feel like my birthday's been ruined a touch."

"I am sorry Major." Teyla replied softly, patting his arm. "Is there anything that we can do"

"Not unless you could start a fight with another Athosian woman."

As Ford laughed, Teyla just gasped. John grinned to her, raising his hands. "What? It's not everyday you get the possibility of a catfight as a birthday present. I feel like I've been cheated in a way."

Teyla just rolled her eyes, slipping her arm through his with a 'no way' look. "Perhaps, I could tempt you to have another dance instead John"

John gave a mock-disappointed look, before grinning. "Okay then, I guess that's just as good."

-

"I think we're far enough away from the lunchroom Elizabeth."

"Oh _now_ you call me Elizabeth" Elizabeth snapped back to her, forcefully yanking her a little further before abruptly stopping and facing her. "Personally, I don't think sticking you back through the Stargate to Earth could get you far enough away from here as possible for my liking."

Jane frowned, yanking her wrist out of Elizabeth's grasp. "There is no need for that kind of talk. Won't you at least let me explain"

"What in God's name is there to explain" Elizabeth wondered as she threw her hands up in the air. "You were practically eating Carson's face off! I've seen things less disgusting in a horror movie! And that's without even considering the fact that you chose to do it at John's birthday party, of all places"

"You think I did this on purpose" Jane suddenly shouted back, anger bubbling forth. "It's not like I planned this! All I wanted to do was to talk to Carson, to make him realise just how good we would be together. But no, he wouldn't listen. So I tried now, I tried when I knew he wouldn't be able to get away. And I just wanted to, to know, if we could kiss. If we would work together like that. I-I didn't mean it to happen like that though. I don't know what came over me..."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at Jane, before sighing softly. "Okay then, if that really is the case, didn't you once think about Rodney? You're supposed to be in a relationship with him, certainly the last time I checked anyway."

And that was too much. Jane's eyes widened and it all burst forth. "How can _you _of all people talk about Rodney and me like that! Barring the fact that you've been trying to seduce him for the past few days, I can certainly excuse you that because of the inhabitation thing but even before that… you can't possibly make me believe that there was nothing ever going on between you!" As Elizabeth stepped back and watched Jane's tirade with an open mouth, Jane just continued. "Am I the only one who sees the problem around here! You all tiptoe around Atlantis as if there's nothing wrong, as if there's nothing going on between two of the most senior officers. And Rodney! Oh, he thinks he's so good at hiding it. It'd be obvious to a chimp with a banana deficiency that every time you walk into the room he goes all goo-goo eyed, and you!" Elizabeth took another step back, eyebrows rising this time. "You're even worse! You both pussyfoot around each other, not daring to say anything at all, and somehow you think no-one notices. Yeah, as if the fact that you pretty much spend all your time together and make up excuses to explain it, plus the fact that you look like you're heart's been wrenched out of its socket every time he might be hurt... doesn't explain _everything_!" With that last cry Jane quietened, breathing deeply, her skin flushed.

Elizabeth just watched her for a moment, unsure of whether the bomb had officially exploded yet or not, before she retraced her steps. "Jane…" She ventured, studying her to see if it was all over. When there was no reply, she continued. "I can see that, well that there have been a lot of pent-up feelings inside you for a while. I suppose when you're a psychiatrist it's hard to find someone to talk too." Licking her lips then, she ventured. "Not that I'm saying there's any truth in your statements, but if this is what you believe, why did you even start a relationship with Rodney?"

"Honestly?" Jane asked quietly. As Elizabeth motioned for her to continue, Jane sighed. "Okay then. He was intriguing. I'm a psychiatrist, and Rodney has so many psychosis's I'm surprised they haven't cancelled each other out by now."

Elizabeth's features settled into a dark frown, and she murmured. "Let me get this right. You started a relationship with Rodney so you could study him?"

A wince passed through Jane, and she sighed. "No, that's not right. I mean, I can understand where you got that from but… It started out like that, yes. But then we got to know each other more. And he is rather sweet, certainly more then he lets on. I guess I thought that he'd never act on his feelings for you, and so why not see where it would go? But…"

"But then you started having feelings for Carson."

"Yes, precisely." Jane nodded, unable to prevent the smile that formed quickly on her lips. "Like I said, Rodney's sweet, and we had some good times but, but with Carson it's different. I feel this great link between us." Her gaze flickered to Elizabeth, and she sighed softly. "You must know what that feels like?"

Elizabeth paused, unsure of whether she should be truthful. But she realised that Jane was probably the only one who she could be truthful with, especially since she already pretty much knew anyway. "Yes." She admitted then. "I do." Once more she paused, thinking over the past few moments. Jane watched her curiously, unsure even in her own mind. It was then Elizabeth decided that she'd have to guide people once more, like she so usually did.

"Jane." As the psychiatrist looked up, Elizabeth smiled. "Go and talk to Carson. There are a lot of things you need to resolve."

Evidently surprised for a moment, Jane moved to ask why, but Elizabeth cut over her, an answer already prepared. "Because you need to go to him. Carson is, well he and Rodney are alike in more ways then they'd probably like to admit. You need to speak with him now, before he gets his barriers up again. Don't worry about Rodney; I'll see how he is."

Jane pondered about protesting, after all she and Rodney were technically still together, even after the recent events. But she also knew that Elizabeth was right, it was a chance she couldn't pass up. So Jane merely nodded, and then headed to the infirmary.

Elizabeth watched her go with a soft sigh. Of course now it was up to her to resolve everything, as usual. But she couldn't deny the extra personal link with the situation. Tonight, was certainly not going to be a night she'd forget. A sigh passed her lips and she began to move off herself. Rodney wouldn't want to be found, so he wouldn't go to his lab, which'd be too obvious. No, he'd go somewhere now just as special, the balcony of last night. At least, that's what Elizabeth reckoned, as she headed off in that direction.

-

The party was once more in full swing. Although recent events still played on people's mind, it was evident that they could wait another night before they settled in fully. After all a party was a rare event on Atlantis, who knew when it would happen again?

John led Teyla off the dance floor after another dance, the both of them flushed but with wide smiles on their faces. "Wow, you're a good dancer Teyla."

"As are you John." Teyla smiled warmly back to him. "You certainly learn our dances well."

"You'd be surprised how similar they are to a lot of ours." John admitted, before pouring himself a drink. His gaze flickered around the room, noting the absence of certain people still, and he sighed. "Well, we can't wait around for them forever." Turning to Teyla, he grinned. "Think I could open my presents yet?"

Teyla too glanced around, but noticing his eagerness, grinned back to him. "Very well. But you must leave the large present till last."

Rolling his eyes at that, John set down his drink. "Fine, fine. I'll leave it till last. Okay people!" He gestured for the band to stop playing. "I'm gonna open my presents now, so anyone who wants to come and watch, hurry over."

The various guests arranged their own gifts on the tables around John, and stepped back to allow him to dive in. A noticeable tearer, John made quick work of his parcels. Ford leant against the table with the large present, guarding it with ease as even the Athosian children were watching John opening his other presents. Certainly his shouts of glee were a lot like their own. Zelenka slid over, leaning against the table also. "So…" Zelenka ventured. "Zey are not back yet."

"Hmm?" Ford blinked, waking up from his own thoughts. "Who aren't?"

"Ze doctors." Zelenka murmured back, encompassing them fully. "It is a shame that the entertainment left so soon."

"I had no idea you were so much into gossip Zelenka." Ford replied honestly, his eyebrows rising. "You're not the one who started the rumour about me winning those gymnastics tournaments are you?"

Zelenka gave him an innocent look, before waving his hands. "Of course not Lieutenant, I believe that was the Major."

"It was!" Ford replied incredulously, his gaze shooting to John.

"Yes, because you signed him up for ze Mensa group on Atlantis?"

Ford snickered under his breath at that, nodding to Zelenka. "Yeah I guess so. Hey, it was pretty funny, and kept those eggheads attention off me. Uh… no offence of course."

"None taken." Zelenka grinned back, before nodding to the Major. "Ah, it looks like he's finished."

Teyla gestured over for Ford to bring the present, and he hefted it up with ease. "Come on then Zelenka, you wouldn't want to miss the grand unveiling."

A path was cleared, and Ford set it down on the table next to Major, in between his new collection of Athosian knick-knacks and saved up snacks. John's eyes widened in anticipation, and his hand hovered over the cloth. "Can I see what it is now?"

"Of course, go ahead." Teyla motioned, watching him nervously as she waited to see what his reaction would be. Ford sent her a reassuring smile and then laughed softly as John sent out a loud exclamation of glee.

"Oh wow! That's so cool!" The cloth was tossed on the ground and John leaned in to expect his new model of a Ferris wheel. "That's amazing! Teyla, did you really make this? And the wheel moves too!"

Ford nudged Teyla forward, but Teyla pulled him along as well. Her cheeks flushed, she smiled. "I am glad you like it. But the thanks are really to Lieutenant Ford. He taught me how to make it; I only helped in procuring supplies."

Ford snorted softly, folding his arms. "She's not taking enough credit. Once I'd taught her the basics, she learnt pretty quickly, and she was the one who had the idea. I was just gonna give you something to decorate the jumper with."

As a few people chuckled at the thought of that, John turned and hugged Teyla even more tightly then he had before. "This is really amazing Teyla, I can't believe how thoughtful you are!" Pulling back a touch, he beamed down to her. "I mean the party, the music, the food, the presents… this! It's all down to you, if you weren't here then…" His voice trailed off, and he found his eyes locking with hers. A thought suddenly struck him. Would anyone else have done anything like this for him? Maybe Elizabeth, but certainly not on this scale, and she wouldn't have thought of the present. Teyla was so thoughtful, and she obviously cared about him, and he… he'd been an ass in the gym before, that's what he'd been. But right now he realised everyone was staring at him and Teyla, so he pulled back fully. "Okay then, back to partying! And I'm gonna play with my wheel." Nudging Ford, he wondered out loud. "Think I could stick snacks in it?"

-

Jane hurried into the infirmary, half-worried that Carson wouldn't be here. Of course there weren't many places he could go; she doubted he'd run off into the city on his own. Her worries dissipated as she saw Carson at one of the benches, studying something through his microscope.

"Carson!"

Carson's eyes darted up, and he sighed obviously. "What now? Can't ya just leave me in peace? At least for tonight?"

"You know I can't do that Carson. Besides, it's all over now. I talked to Elizabeth, she's going to talk to Rodney and make sure everything's alright, so there's nothing you have to worry about."

"You just don't get it do ya?" Carson sighed once more, stepping forward to meet her. "I hurt Rodney, ma best friend, nothing can ever change that. I couldn't go around parading ya in front of him after what I've done tonight."

Jane blinked for a moment, before shaking her head. "I don't understand what you mean Carson. I mean I don't see any problem. You and I both know that after tonight, Rodney will be so swept up with Elizabeth he'll forget about us two. We could be together properly now." As she moved forward to hug him, Carson jumped back, placing the bench between them both.

"No, ya still don't get it." His head shaking, he said forcefully. "I can't-be-with-you Jane, don't ya get that? It just won't work. It can't work. Why can't you see that?"

Pain shot through Jane, and anger rose forth before she could stop it. How dare he? After all that had happened tonight, after everything that had happened in the past few days. It was all so that she could be happy with Carson, and now when the chance was so obvious, he was going to throw it away? "No, I won't let you do this Carson." But tonight it wouldn't work; tonight he had already made his mind up. So to Carson's relief, she stepped back, raising a finger. "This isn't over Carson. I can't let you do this; I can't let you because we should be together. We're perfect for each other. I just have to prove that to you."

Without another word, she turned and stormed out of the infirmary. Carson let out a deep sigh that had been harbouring inside for the past few moments, and braced his arms on the bench. How had his life suddenly become so complicated? He thought he had enough problems when it came to the Wraith and trying to learn how to fly a Jumper, now he had a woman hell-bent on being with him. What was the problem with that anyway?

With the calm of the infirmary, he allowed his thoughts to settle, and he sifted through them. He liked Jane, they did have a great link, and he'd certainly felt something with the kiss. That fog in his mind wasn't for nothing. But there was still something he hadn't realised yet. All he knew for now, was that when it came down to the bare bones of it, the idea of him and Jane together just didn't feel right.

-

Elizabeth's gait slowed as she approached the balcony. Without even looking she just knew that he was out there. Allowing herself a moment to slow her heart rate and arrange what she was going to say, she then stepped out. The night wind teased around her, and she mentally cursed herself for not grabbing something for her arms. Idly hoping that she wouldn't have a Marilyn Monroe moment, she then moved over to Rodney.

Rodney heard her approach and half-turned, moving to meet her, but she raised her hands. "No, it's alright; I could do with some fresh air anyway." Gently she rested her arms on the balcony edge, allowing her gaze to fall on the water below. Normally it seemed so beautiful, but tonight all she could see was the turmoil below. It felt like that night somehow.

Silence passed, until eventually Elizabeth broke it with a light sigh. Softly she bit her lip, and then turned to face him. "Rodney, what happened in there…"

"Could we not talk about it?"

"No." Elizabeth supplied quickly. "Because I know you. If you don't talk to someone about it now, you'll keep it bottled up and never talk about it at all."

"Would that be so bad?"

Elizabeth sighed once more, wishing that he would turn to face her, but he still held his impassive look, watching the horizon. "Yes, it would be." She replied softly, gently resting her hand on his arm. "Rodney, I know you're hurting."

"Elizabeth, to be frank, you don't know anything." Suddenly then he looked to her, pulling his arm from her grasp. "Besides, it's not what you think. I don't care about Jane."

Elizabeth frowned softly at that, taking his signal and leaning both her arms back on to the rail. "But, you and Jane were together at least. You must have had some feelings for her?"

"Maybe a few yes." Rodney murmured, somehow able to keep much emotion from his voice. "But I'd known for a while that it was going to end. Granted, I am sad that it's ended." Probably because it got rid of the only excuse he had. That thought shot through his mind and he frowned. Then the other emotions slowly began to surface. He _was_ hurt. "I'm hurt because of Carson." He admitted quietly. "I'm not hurt because of her. He, well I never thought he'd do anything like that."

"You're not the only one Rodney." Elizabeth smiled warmly, shifting her hand so that it rested on his arm once more. "But don't start thinking that you have to deal with this on your own Rodney. You've got friends on Atlantis." The feel of her heartbeat rising caused her to lick her lips, hazarding next then. "You've, got me?"

Rodney blinked at that, gently turning to look at her. What had happened in the past few days? It felt like some weird kind of alien love story. In some ways he felt like someone else had been controlling him; that he'd just been along for the ride. And now it was left to him to resolve everything. If only he got simple answers like in his work. But that was the whole point wasn't it? Sometimes life wasn't like that. Life sucks.

As his mental monologue slowed to a halt, he found his voice taking over. "Elizabeth, I can't do this." His brain had shutdown, he couldn't think anymore, now it was all so clear. "I can't be with you, not now. Everything is just too important at the moment. We just can't be together right now. I can't do it, we can't do it. There's too much at stake." His gaze lowered then, and he bit his lip. "I'm sorry. I've been trying to excuse it all, to let you down easily, but I just realised, that's not who you are. You like honesty. So I've given it to you."

As soon as she'd heard those first words, Elizabeth had already begun to deal with it all in her mind. Somehow she'd been expecting it. She just simply wasn't as idealistic as Jane was with Carson. In many ways Rodney was right. They were specific people on Atlantis, and they had their duty to think of, they couldn't just jump into each other's arms. "I see." That was all she could say. What else was there? When Rodney had made his mind up, he'd done exactly that. And there was no way she could force Rodney to be with her, he would never be happy like that. For another brief moment she allowed herself to enjoy the quiet solidarity between them, before silently turning to go.

"Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth turned back, meeting Rodney's gaze as he looked over his shoulder. "Hmm?"

"I've been wondering about something, after everything that's happened. Last night, what you were wearing… I know that you have Simon back on Earth, so why did you even bring nightwear like that?"

Elizabeth's lips curled into a soft smirk, and she found a chuckle passing her lips. Why had she brought it? "I guess I thought that… well, I might need it. You never know what's going to happen."

Rodney didn't reply, just nodding before he turned back to the view.

Elizabeth smiled at the back of his head, and then moved off again.

"Elizabeth?"

This time she laughed softly, turning back, there was even a tinge of hope inside her. But this time Rodney wasn't looking at her. Despite that, she could recognise the grin in his tone as he added. "Don't throw it away okay? You might still need it."

Elizabeth's smile warmed, and she let out another laugh. "Don't worry, Rodney, I wasn't planning too." Then she turned and moved off for the last time. As she left Rodney on the balcony alone, she allowed her grin to widen. Even if she and Rodney weren't together like that, there was still the warm feeling around her that reminded her he was always around, caring for her, and protecting her. After all, she and Rodney weren't teenagers, when you're older; you need a little bit of patience.

And that's it folks! For this one at least… there are obviously some unresolved issues, which I'm hoping to take care of in my next fanfiction that will be up, well, when I get around to writing it. grins I hope you've enjoyed it, and I know it's been angsty in places but that's how it wrote itself really, and I did have fun writing it. The next one I've already got an idea for, and it'll head on straight after this one, so I'll put it up when it's done. Thanks for reading, I've had a blast, and I'm glad so many of you liked it!


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